The Younger Days
by H2OGirl101
Summary: Matt takes the girls and their siblings to Australia to meet his cousin Lewis and see a solar eclipse, but what happens when the solar eclipse has a great effect on the mermaids? Takes place before season 3, no Bella, and during Teach 2b W.I.T.C.H. comics
1. Chapter 1

**A/N If you haven't read the W.I.T.C.H. comics or haven't seen H2O Just add Water, just PM me or review to the story and I will gladly explain **

**Chapter 1: Australia**

!

Will was just about finished cleaning out her locker for the summer when she found a note that said WILL VANDOM on it, she opened it and read the inside,

Dear Will,

You and William are invited to spend 4 weeks with Matt to Australia on his yearly visit to his cousin's house. This year there is going to be a solar eclipse, and taking both you and your brother will give your parents some time to relax, but please ask permission. We leave Saturday at 11:00 AM at Heatherfield airport.

Sincerely,

Matt's mom

Will turned around to see Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin holding similar notes to hers, except with their names on the covers.

"We're going to Australia!" They all said in unison.

After finishing their cleaning, they met up outside of school to walk home.

"I called my mom, she said I could go as long as I took Christopher since he was going to throw a fit if he couldn't. He's such a baby," Irma said.

"Same here, my mom is making me take Lillian. She's such a pain," Cornelia said.

"I can go," Taranee said.

"Me too," Hay Lin said.

"I guess that just leaves me. I still have to ask my parents, they didn't answer the first time, but I'll try again," Will said taking out her phone and speed dialing her home phone. After a few rings her mom picked up.

"Hi mom, Matt's mom invited me and William to go to Australia for 4 weeks. There is going to be an eclipse and it will give you and dad a break . . . Please, I'm sure he'd love it . . . of course it's safe, don't you trust me? . . . Yes! Thanks. Love you too. Bye," Will finished then hung up.

"What was that all about?" Taranee asked.

"I was begging my mom to let me take William on the trip. She doesn't think it is safe for a teenager to take her little brother on a trip away from their mother and father, but I had too. He still obviously can't control his powers, he's only a baby, and with me gone they'll surely find out," Will said," So I'll see you guys tomorrow." With that they all left to go home and pack.

The Next Day at the Airport . . .

Everyone met up at the airport, said good bye to their parents, and before they knew it, it was time to go. Matt and his mom were coming too, obviously, and while on the plane, Matt began to tell them about his cousin. "His name is Lewis, he is really scientific and always trying to figure things out."

"Eww, does he like, dissect animals or something gross like that?" Will asked thinking of the poor frogs that she had to dissect in her biology class only a few weeks ago.

"Of course not, he just really likes science and understanding things, but he does have great respect to his subjects," matt said defending his cousin.

"So he's like one of those guys who doesn't believe what he can't see," Irma concluding.

"No, well, he wasn't always that way. He used to be so outgoing, he believed in all fairytale things, even if there was no proof of them. Then one year he saw his father putting the presents under the tree instead of Santa, he hasn't believed anything that couldn't be proven since," Matt said solemnly.

Then out of the blue, Kandracar calls! They immediately responded by transporting to Kandracar to where Yan Lin, the Oracle, was waiting for them. (Luckily, the others didn't notice)

"Hello girls, I understand it is your vacation time, but you must not forget your mission," Yan Lin (Oracle) told them as they walked in, in guardian form.

"But our mission was to find other magical people in Heatherfield, and we are going to be in Australia," Will replied.

"Yes, I know," replied Yan Lin, "But what you don't know is that not all people that are magical live in Heatherfield."

"But I thought all Kandracar's magic was based in Heatherfield," said Hay Lin.

"Yes, Kandracar's magic is, but there are other sources of magic in the world,'" Yan Lin said, "and Kandracar would like to know about them."

"So you want us to continue looking for magical people in Australia?" Irma asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want you to do," Yan Lin said.

"Okay then, we'll do that," Will said, "and I guess we will see you later."

"Yes, your plane is about to land," Yan Lin said, and with that she sent them back to the plane.

"Please buckle your seat belts, the plane will be landing shortly," The attendant said over the P.A.

Once the plane landed thy got off, got their luggage, and left the airport, there to greet them was a blonde haired boy and brunette haired girl, both about our age.


	2. We're Off!

**Chapter 2: Were Off!**

Rikki, Emma, Elliot, and Kim were waiting at Lewis' house with his dad and sister while Cleo went with Lewis and his mom to pick up the rest of the people going to the eclipse with them. Lewis's mom had rooms in a hotel near the place of the eclipse. Once the people got back, they made the introductions.

"Lewis this is my girlfriend Will, our friends, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin, Irma's brother Christopher, Cornelia's sister Lillian, and Will's brother William," Matt said to Lewis pointing to each person as he said their name.

"And Matt, this is my girlfriend Cleo, our friends Emma and Rikki, Emma's brother Elliot, and Cleo's sister Kim. And that is my new little sister Laura," Lewis said pointing out each person as he said their name, his baby sister was in his father's arms. Sadly, his father wasn't coming because they couldn't find anyone to watch over their house, water the plants, or get the mail, not even his older brothers who are too busy with their own lives to care. "She's really spoiled, she's got everything a baby needs times three," Lewis finished with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Okay," Mrs. Olsen (Matt's mom) said taking charge, "we have split you all into 5 groups since we bought five rooms. Also we have mixed you guys up so you can get to know each other. Me, Mrs. McCartney, Laura, and William will be group 1. Group 2 will be Will, Cleo, Taranee, and Cornelia. Group 3 will be Lillian, Kim, Christopher, and Elliot. Group 4 will be Irma, Hay Lin, Rikki, and Emma. And Matt and Lewis will be group 5. Any questions? Good!," she said not giving anyone a chance to say anything, "we will be taking 3 cars, you can choose which one you ride in. I'll drive one, Mrs. McCartney will drive another, and Matt will drive the last one.

After a 2 hour drive they finally made it to the hotel. All their rooms filled one hall with 2 rooms on each side that were connected by bathrooms, and there was one room at the end of the hall. Group 1's room was connected to Group 3's room, Group 2's room was connected to Group 4's room, and Group 5's room was at the end of the hall. Once each person got to their rooms, they began to unpack.

In Group 2's Room

"Why are Matt and Lewis in their own little group?" Will asked Taranee after they finished unpacking.

"Maybe they don't trust them with any of us girls," Taranee replied.

"Anyone else want a glass of water?" Cornelia asked pouring a glass of water for herself with the faucet and glasses in the room.

"I'll have one," Will said.

"Me too," Taranee said.

"How about you Cleo?" Cornelia asked and they all turned to look at the girl they had practically forgot was there.

"Huh?" Cleo asked, she had been thinking about her friends and what they were doing right now, and how much she wanted to just go for a swim, and wasn't paying attention until she heard her name.

"Do you want a glass of water?" Cornelia said, not really liking that she had to repeat herself.

"No thanks," Cleo replied quickly.

"Are you sure, it's just a glass of water," Cornelia insisted.

"Okay, if you insist," Cleo said taking the glass cautiously. Then Will accidently tripped over a suitcase and bumped into Cleo spilling both their waters all over Cleo! Cleo ran to the bathroom and locked the door just before transforming into a mermaid. But since group 2 and group 4 shared a bathroom, there were two doors and Cleo didn't get a chance to lock the other door, and it was starting to open . . .

_Oh no, what am I going to do? _Cleo thought.

It was Rikki! She walked in and, once she saw Cleo on the floor, closed the door immediately.

"Rikki, thank goodness you're here. I kinda need some help," Cleo said, "Please?"

"I can see," Rikki replied, "and of course I will help you. What happened?"

"Will bumped into me with a glass of water and it spilled on me," Cleo explained as Rikki dried her off.

"Cleo, I'm so sorry, it was an accident," Will shouted through the door.

"Are you okay?" Taranee asked as she saw steam coming from under the bathroom door.

"It's okay, I'm fine," Cleo shouted back getting to her feet.

"Thanks," Cleo said to Rikki in a low voice.

"No problem, see you tomorrow," Rikki said leaving through one door.

Cleo left the bathroom less than a minute later, coming out of it completely dry!

"How did you do that?" Will asked.

"Do what?" Cleo asked innocently.

"Dry off so fast," Taranee explained.

"Yeah you were in there for five minutes and now your clothes are completely dry," Cornelia said stating the obvious.

"Oh that," Cleo said thinking quickly, "I used the hair dryer in the bathroom."

"Oh," Will said thinking about that.

"I'm going over to the boys' room," Cleo said, "I'll be back in 15 minutes."

"There's something suspicious about her," Cornelia said.

"She just used the hair dryer, that's probably why we say steam coming from the door,' Taranee explained.

"But wouldn't we have heard the hair dryer?" Will asked.

"Not only that," Cornelia said looking around the bathroom, " there isn't a hair dryer in this bathroom."

"Do you think?" Taranee asked inquiring that maybe Cleo had powers.

"I think that we should discuss this tomorrow with Irma and Hay Lin," Will concluded, "For now, let's just get ready for bed." It was getting dark and after the long plane ride and car ride, they were all exhausted.

**A/N Please review and let me know what you think **


	3. Powers?

Chapter 3: Magic?

The next morning Will's back hurt because her and Cleo had gotten stuck with the pullout couch/bed while Taranee and Cornelia got the bed. When they all woke up they all went down for breakfast and were surprised to find that everyone else was already up. Matt, Irma, and Hay Lin were at a table reserving seats for them, they sat down with pleasure. Cleo went to sit down with her friends.

"Okay guys," Will started, "we think that Cleo may be magical."

"What?" Matt, Irma, and Hay Lin shouted together in response.

"Our mission couldn't be that easy. Could it?" asked Irma.

"Yeah, shouldn't we at least have to look around to find magical people, not just find them right when we get here," Hay Lin mused.

"Its true, she got a lot of water on herself and ran to the bathroom, and less than 5 minutes later, she came out totally dry," Will explained.

"While she was in there steam was coming from around the door," Taranee added.

"Are you sure?" Matt said.

"Kind of," Will replied.

"Maybe you should just keep watch over her until your sure," Matt suggested.

"Actually, we think Rikki and/or Emma are magical too," Irma said.

"Yeah," added Hay Lin, "This morning before everyone else was awake we came down, we each got glasses of hot chocolate and me and Irma sat at one table while Rikki and Emma sat at another. Our hot chocolate was cold as ice like all the other cups there, because there was no hot water, but when we looked at them we could see steam coming from their cups."

"Was Rikki or Emma in the bathroom the same time as Cleo?" Matt asked.

"I think Rikki went in about that time," Irma replied.

"Then isn't it obvious Rikki is the one who has the powers?" Matt said.

"That's right Matt," said Will, "But how do we tell her we know without freaking her out? I know I'd be freaking out if someone just came up to me and said that they knew my secret."

"Maybe you could just become friends with her and her friends, her mostly, and maybe she'll confide her secret with you," Matt said, "but if not, you can confide your secrets with her and then she'll tell you hers."

"Sounds easy enough," Will said.

"Then go," Matt pushed, "start making friends."

"Now?" Will asked kind of surprised.

"Yeah," Matt said, "No time lie the present."

At Cleo, Emma, and Rikki's Table

Starting 5 min. earlier

(P.S. Lewis had to go upstairs and watch the babies while the moms went shopping)

"Is it just me, or are they looking over at us suspiciously?" Rikki asked referring to the table the W.I.T.C.H. girls and Matt were sitting at.

"No, I see it too, it's really weird and creepy," Cleo said, "You think they're on to us?"

"I think we should start being more careful around them," Emma said. Suddenly the girls at the other table got up and came over to theirs.

"Can we sit here?" Will asked.

"Um . . . sure," Emma replied as they made room for them.

They all talked for a while and, after a few days, they became good friends. They all hung out a lot and Rikki didn't use her powers unless it was an emergency, but that was enough for the W.I.T.C.H. girls to prove their theory. So the day before the solar eclipse, while Cleo and Emma were out helping Lewis with Laura, they decided to have a little chat.

"Okay, so things didn't turn out the way we planned, I guess we have to resort to plan B," Will said to the other W.I.T.C.H. girls, they were all hanging out in Will, Taranee, and Cornelia's room.

"It seems like the only other option if we want to find out before the eclipse," Taranee replied.

"I just hope she handles it well," Cornelia said.

"Well the sooner the better, who is going to go get her?" Irma asked.

"I will," Hay Lin said getting up to go get Rikki. They decided since Rikki hadn't confided in them on her own, they should try telling her their secret in hopes that she will return the favor.

Once they got Rikki in the room they told her everything, about their powers, about portals, about Kandracar, and the oracle, Hay Lin's grandma. They even changed forms and showed her their powers and the Heart of Kandracar. Rikki was caught totally off guard, and, no knowing what to do, she ran for the door that was closed but not locked and rn back to her room to think it all through. Never did it cross her mind to blow her secret.

"Well that didn't work," Irma said once Rikki left. They all transformed back to normal.

"What are we going to do now?" Cornelia asked.

"It's getting pretty late, maybe we should just go to bed and talk about this later," Will suggested. After that they all went to bed.

The next day was really busy, it was the day of the eclipse, their last day at the hotel. In the morning everyone was busy packing for tomorrow's leave. Getting ready for the solar eclipse that afternoon.


	4. Solar Eclipse

Chapter 4: Solar Eclipse

Everybody was ready for the eclipse. After receiving the protective eye-gear to allow them to see the eclipse, they found a place off to the side where they laid down a blanket for Laura to sit on. Cleo offered to help watch over her, so she sat down next to Laura and played with her as they awaited the eclipse. Meanwhile Rikki was talking to Emma, trying to tell her about what had happened.

"I don't believe you," Emma said.

"But it's true, I swear," Rikki said.

"That they have wings, magical powers over all four elements, and that Will is the Keeper of the Heart of Kandracar?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Rikki said.

"That's just too weird," Emma said.

"You said the same thing about us being mermaids," Rikki replied.

"True, but I have proof that is true," Emma explained.

"How the heck am I supposed to get proof that they are fairies?" Rikki asked.

"Show me this 'Heart of Kandracar,'" Emma replied.

"How?" Rikki asked.

"I don't know," Emma replied.

"Fine, just drop it, I might have just been hallucinating anyway," Rikki replied a bit mad that Emma wouldn't believe though she had to admit, it is pretty unbelievable.

Then a few minutes later everyone put on their eye-gear, and the eclipse began, but once the new-moon covered the sun something strange began to happen.

You see, when the moon covers the sun, though it is not a full-moon, it is a time when the moon is at its most teasing point. It is unpredictable at this time, capable to effect mermaids in unexpected ways . . .

**A/N I know this chapter is really short, but I wanted to have a cliffhanger ****. But I promise I will update the next chapter within the next few days : ). Please read and review! :D**


	5. Whoa!

**Whoa Baby!**

When the moon eclipsed over their sun everybody, with their eye-gear on, looked up at the sky, except Cleo who's biggest worry was watching over Laura in the darkness and making sure she didn't look. The others, except Rikki and Emma, went in the water to get a better look at the eclipse. So Rikki and Emma were standing in front of Cleo when, before her eyes, they began shrinking! Not only shrinking, but looking younger and younger by the second! That's when Cleo, in search for the source of this, put on the eye-gear, and took a look at the eclipse too, it was kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity. Then she felt her clothes growing, or she was shrinking? It just happened so fast, she started crying.

*Don't cry, you're just like me now,* a voice said, and it seemed to be coming from . . . Laura!

(Words in ** are the babies conversation that no one else can hear.)

*Laura! You can't talk, well at least I haven't heard you before,* Cleo said.

*You weren't a baby before. And neither were you friends,* Laura said. Cleo looked around herself and found all her regular clothes gone. Then she looked over to where Emma and Rikki were once standing and it took her a while to see one small baby, who she could tell was Emma. Instead of the clothes she was wearing before, she was in a small baby blue one-zee and a diaper. Rikki was nowhere to be found.

*Is everyone going to turn into babies?* Laura asked excitingly.

*No,* Cleo said realizing the moon was causing the change, *Can you keep a secret.*

*Sure, it/s not like anyone will understand me, and when I grow up I'll probably forget anyway,* Laura replied.

*Well, Rikki, Emma, and I are mermaids,* Cleo said

*Cool, like The Little Mermaid?" Laura asked.

*Yeah, except we have powers, turn into mermaids ten seconds after we touch water, and the moon can affect is weird ways,* Cleo said.

*Emma!* Cleo yelled calling Emma (obviously) who was beginning to look confused about what happened.

*Cleo?* She relied looking at her with an unsure look.

*Yeah, the eclipse turned us into babies,* Cleo explained as Emma began to crawl over her.

*Do you know what you are wearing?* Emma asked incredulously.

Cleo looked down at herself and was surprised she was wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans, a diaper, and a black, baby-sized, baseball cap.

*Anyway, do you know where Rikki is?* Cleo asked.

*No, she was just next to me,* Emma said looking around for her.

After the bright flash of the sun, the eclipse was over and Matt and Lewis started coming towards the blanket while everyone else was too busy talking about the eclipse.

"Where's my hat?" Lewis said, looking around for his fishing hat that he was wearing, "Oh here it is, it must have blown off in the wind." He reached down to pick up his hat, but t moved! And it kept moving around until it bumped into Matt! Matt picked it up to reveal the cutest little baby girl in a pink dress with matching booties and a bow! (and yes, a diaper too) And after giving Lewis his hat, he picked her up.

*OMG! Rikki?* Emma exclaimed.

*Yeah,* Rikki said sadly.

"Who do you think she belongs to?" Matt asked Lewis.

"I have no clue," Lewis said looking around, then he noticed the two extra babies on the blanket, "but look."

Matt did look, and he was surprised to see that so many babies could get lost.

"Did anyone lose a baby?"Matt shouted to the people around him. Some people looked at him weirdly, some just glanced at him, and some just ignored him. No one claimed a lost baby.

"Matt, we should just take them home with us tomorrow," said Lewis, "There we can report this to the police, and make flyers, if that's what you do for lost babies."

"I guess you're right, but what if the parents live far away and are just here for the eclipse?" Matt asked.

"We could just wait here, I'm sure a parent would notice if their baby is missing," Lewis said. When their moms came back, they explained the situation and their solutions, and their moms agreed that it was best. So the babies, Matt, Lewis, and Lewis' mom waited around while the others went back to the hotel. They waited until all the people were gone, but no one looked like they were missing a baby, everyone seemed too happy about the eclipse.

So they just brought them back to the hotel where they became members of group 5 with Lewis and Matt, who just let them crawl around the room and play with some of Laura's toys that they had borrowed. When they heard a knock on the door and at went to answer it, he cracked the door open just enough to see Will was there and stepped out into the hallway to talk to her.

"Have you seen Cleo, Rikki, and/or Emma?" Will asked.

The W.I.T.C.H. girls had noticed their absence and had gotten worried.

"No, not since before the eclipse," Matt answered, "Lewis, have you seen Cleo, Rikki, and/or Emma?" Matt yelled into the room.

"No, not since before the eclipse," Lewis answered.

"Sorry," Matt said.

"It's okay, I'm sure they are somewhere," Will said, "How are the babies?"

"Oh, their fine," Matt replied and they got into a long conversation.

Meanwhile, Cleo crawled up to Lewis and tugged on the cuff of his jeans.

"What is it," Lewis asked looking down at her, "Is there something you want to show me?"

Cleo didn't answer, she couldn't, so she just crawled over to where Emma and Rikki were playing with Laura's blocks. She crawled over to her creation which was just blocks spelling out her name C-L-E-O, she then pointed to it, then to herself.

"Cleo!" Lewis whisper-shouted. Then he looked around to the other girls and noticed, they too, had spelled out names R-I-K-K-I and E-M-M-A, and he realized what must have happened.

"Hey, you know what, I just remembered. We asked them to stay with us for the night, to help them out with the babies. They just went out to get some more milk and some more baby food," Lewis said, interrupting Will and Matt's conversation.

"Okay then," Will said, ending their conversation, "Goodnight." After giving Matt a goodnight kiss, she left.

"No they didn't," Matt said, turning on Lewis.

"Yeah, I know, but . . .," Lewis said.

"But what?" Matt said, he was angry that Lewis had just lied to his girlfriend.

**A/N Oooooh, another cliffhanger :)! Will Lewis tell Matt? Will the girls want him too? Find out in the next chapter! :D**


	6. Secret Sharing Time

**A/N I know it has been a long time since I updated this story, but I have had tons of homework and after that I had exams, but I am on break right now so I will try to update a faster :)**

**Secret Sharing Time**

"But what?" Matt said, he was angry that Lewis had just lied to his girlfriend.

Lewis looked over Matt's shoulder to the babies who were listening very intently to their conversation, and after giving each other a knowing look, like they were agreeing on something, Cleo gave him a nod.

"But they are already here," Lewis told him.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, looking at him like he is crazy.

"Well, I have to tell you something, but it is really big and it has to be kept secret, so you can't tell anyone," Lewis explained to him.

Matt definitely knew he could keep **a **secret, he was at the moment, keeping the W.I.T.C.H. girls' secret, and it can't get any bigger than that. But if it did, then he could share his secret with Lewis and ther wouldn't be any secrets between them! But what could be as big as or bigger than your girlfriend being a fairy that fights off evil?

"Okay," Matt replied.

"You promise? It is really big," Lewis warned.

"Yes, I promise," Matt replied.

"Okay well, Cleo, Rikki, and Emma are mermaids," Lewis said.

"What? No, that's impossible," Matt said, he knew mermaids didn't exist! Of course, he though the same thing about fairies, but that's not the same thing. Is it?

"It is, I swear," Lewis replied.

"Prove it," Matt said, not willing to believe in mermaids unless there was some sort of proof.

"Okay," Lewis said picking up the baby closest to him, which happened to be Rikki, "take that spray bottle over there and spray her with water." Matt went and got the spray bottle they used to spray the plants in their room, and brought it over to Lewis who was holding tightly to the squirming Rikki. Then he sprayed the water, getting both Lewis and Rikki wet. At first, nothing happened, but when Matt was about to say I told you so to Lewis, Rikki seemed to turn to water and after she took solid form again her clothes were gone and in their place was a orange scaly bra and an orange tail where her legs should be!

"Whoa," Matt said, "but what does being a mermaid have to do with being a mermaid?"

"Well during full moons, if they see it and touch water, they will go crazy sort of, and forget everything the next day. But on special days like when the planets align, during a lunar eclipse, and, apparently a solar eclipse, the moon does different things. If they are in the moonpool, that's the place where they became mermaids, during the planets alignment, they would lose their powers forever. If they are in the moon pool during a lunar eclipse, they will lose their powers for 12 hours. Apparently, when they looked at the solar eclipse, it turned them into babies," Lewis explained.

"Oh, that kind of makes sense," Matt said, then he remembered his conversation earlier with Will and the girls about the possibility of Rikki having powers, "do they have any powers?"

"Well yeah, see," Lewis said as Rikki used her power to dry herself off, and then Lewis set her down next to Cleo and Emma.

"Cool," Matt said, so it was Rikki who had the powers, and she was probably just keeping the secret safe by drying off Cleo when she was wet!

"That's not all," Lewis said. Just then, Cleo did a motion with her hand and the water in the spray bottle grew and shook, then with a motion of Emma's hand the water froze until Rikki boiled it back to water.

"Whoa," was all Matt could manage to say.

"They could also make fire, wind, and snow or rain," Lewis said pointing to each baby as he said their other power, "which can create a serious storm. Almost killed me once when they were under the influence of the full moon and they had just gotten those powers."

"That's crazy," Matt said.

"Yeah, but remember, you can't tell anyone," Lewis said.

"Don't worry I won't," Matt said.

"At least now there are no secrets between us," Lewis said smiling.

"Well, actually," Matt started, and he couldn't stop, he told Lewis everything about W.I.T.C.H., how they are the Guardians, how they look like fairies and can fly, all about Kandracar and the oracle, and finally about the school they ran for kids with magical abilities.

*Told you so,* Rikki said to Emma.

*I didn't even know that was possible,* Emma said bewildered, while Cleo just sat and listened.

"Woah, that's big," Lewis said.

"Yeah, and I know it was implied, but you won't tell anyone right?" Matt said.

"Of course not," Lewis replied.

"So are they going to be babies forever?" Matt said after a moment of silence.

"No, the effect usually wears off the next day," Lewis replied.

"Okay, then we best be getting to bed," Matt said.

Then they both got ready for bed, got the babies ready for bed and finally went to sleep.

**A/N So what did you think? Will they change back by morning? Please Read and Review! :)**


	7. Trip Home

Trip Home

The next morning Lewis was the first one to wake up and he was so sure that the girls would change that he almost screamed when he looked over to the couch bed to see three small bodies peacefully sleeping. Instead he just said, "Oh no, this is bad," quietly so as not to wake up Matt, but it did and Matt sleepily sat up with sleep still clouding his eyes. "What's wrong? Are they back to normal?"

"No, they're still babies! What if they're like this forever!" Lewis practically shouted silently hoping no one outside their room heard him.

"Calm down dude," Matt said, "It's not the end of the world."

Knock Knock Knock

"Time to wake up boys! We are leaving in 3 hours!" Matt's mom said through the door, then leaving them to get ready.

She must have forgotten about the babies, because she had woken them up, and because they were the still babies, they did what any baby would do, they began to cry.

Lewis and Matt were able to calm them down and eventually they all got dressed.

**With the W.I.T.C.H. girls**

**(Dressed and in Will, Taranee and Cornelia's room)**

"Maybe we shouldn't have told Rikki our secret, maybe she doesn't have powers, and maybe she is freaked out and is telling everyone," Will said pacing back and forth freaking out.

"Wouldn't we know if she had told anybody? Plus we know she has powers, we have proof," Irma said.

"Not physical proof," Will said as if it mattered.

"But we saw it with our own eyes," Hay Lin pointed out.

"Why don't we just talk about this with her," Cornelia suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Taranee said, "Didn't she stay in the boys' room last night? Maybe she is still there."

"Then lets go," Will said leading the group down the hall to the boys' room, knocking on the door.

"Come in," Matt said when he opened the door. They walked into the room just to find that none of the girls were there.

"Do you know where Rikki is?" Will asked. Causing Rikki, who really wasn't willing to go with them to go under the bed in hopes they won't see her, even if she was a baby.

"I think she went down with the other girls to get some breakfast downstairs," Matt said calmly to Will, "Lewis, why don't you take them down?"

"I have a plan," Matt whispered to Lewis so that Will and the other girls couldn't hear him.

"Oh, sure I'll take you guys," Lewis said to Will and the girls confused about what Matt was going to do.

Matt gave Will a hug and kiss, and while doing so, though he knew it was wrong, he took the Heart of Kandracar from her back pocket.

"See ya later," Will said as she left.

"See ya," Matt said closing the door behind them.

"Okay, which one of you is Rikki?" Matt said to the babies as if he expected an answer.

Since Matt had no idea, he just picked up the blonde baby in front of him. He took her into the bathroom and pulled out the Heart of Kandracar. Then he said, "pord lartsa," and just as he expected, her astral drop was a clueless copy of her before she turned into a baby. What he didn't expect was that he had the wrong girl, he believed this girl was Emma. SO he went back out to find only one other baby and did the same thing to her just to find out it was Cleo.

*This is soo weird,* Cleo said still in Matt's arms looking at the astral drop who looked exactly like her.

*I bet it is some of their magic. He is trying to make Rikki one so she can go to the other girls,* Emma said.

*Well he is not going to,* Rikki said sneaking behind Matt just as the Heart of Kandracar fell out of his back pocket and around her neck.

*Are you sure that's the best idea?* Emma asked.

*I don't care,* Rikki finished leaving out the door which wasn't locked and she easily pushed open.

**With Lewis and the other girls**

"Well, they're not here," Will said as she looked around the dining area.

"I guess while we are here we might as well have breakfast," Lewis said, trying to be nice.

"Sure," Will said and they got food and sat at a table.

**With Rikki**

Rikki crawled away from the door and around the hotel just trying to get away. Unfortunately, one of the workers t the hotel spotted her. He had seen her with Lewis when they came in the night before, and had figured he would be eating breakfast, so he picked her up and took her to the dining room.

"Did anyone lose a baby?" Th worker announced onto microphone at the front of the dining room.

"Lewis, isn't that one of the babies you found last night?" Will asked.

"Hm," Lewis said turning around to see the worker, and immediately recognized the pouting baby in the worker's hands as Rikki, "Yes." Then he went up to the worker and got Rikki back from him promising he will keep a better watch on her.

"What's that around her neck?" Irma whispered to Will while Lewis was walking back with her.

As they got closer Will could see the Heart of Kandracar around her neck! "How did she get the Heart of Kandracar?" Will asked quietly thinking.

"Maybe you left it in the boys' room," Taranee reasoned.

"Maybe," Will said thinking it over.

"Hi, I guess she got away from Matt," Lewis said as he reached the table.

"Yeah," Will said, "Would you mind giving me the necklace? It's mine, it must have fallen off in your room."

"Sure," Lewis said taking it off Rikki and giving it to Will. Will thought she was lucky that he hadn't asked any further questions, but she didn't know he already knew all about it.

"She must have escaped Matt, I'll go bring her back," Lewis said taking the chance to get away from them, not that he didn't like them, he just felt left out of their conversations, and he could tell they were about to talk about some secret stuff, because they would say something, look at him, then change subjects!

**Meanwhile with Matt**

"Oh no, where did I put it?" Matt asked tearing up the room looking for the Heart of Kandracar.

"Put what?" Cleo's astral drop asked curiously.

"The Heart of Kandracar!" Matt exclaimed still searching.

"You mean the pink Jewel necklace?" Emma's astral drop asked.

"Yeah, do you know where it is?" Matt asked stopping his search to look at her.

"I saw a baby crawling out the door with it on," She explained. Just then Lewis came into the room with Rikki in his arms, and they were both totally surprised to see the astral drops. "How did you get them back to normal?" Lewis asked.

"They aren't back to normal, these are their astral drops (once he said that they disappeared), they are complete body copies made by the Heart, but they are pretty clueless and disappear when you say astral drop," Matt explained, "I tried to make one for Rikki to meet you and the girls downstairs, but she escaped before I could. It's okay though, they will probably forget about it, or maybe I can make it later.

"Boy's time to go!" Matt's mom said at the open door, "by the way, have any of you seen Cleo, Rikki, and Emma? I can't see to find them anywhere."

"Oh, um, they're just getting dressed," Lewis said, "I'll tell them we are going."

"Okay," Matt's mom replied, "just don't take too long."

After she left they both made sure they had everything packed, and secretly went to the girl's room to get their things all packed. Then they brought all the bags out to the car taking turns looking after the babies. Matt convinced Will and the other girls to get into the first two cars. He convinced his mom that he knew the way well enough to get home without her help so he could leave in the last car without them all seeing that the girls weren't getting in the car, only the babies, which were the babies, they just wouldn't know. Good thing they had another car-seat, in which they placed Rikki who they did't want to try to run away again, even if they were in a car, she just played around with a little rattl Lewis had given her and the seat buckle as she tried to undo it and be free. Lewis sat in the back holding onto Cleo, who snuggled against him and fell asleep, and Emma who kind of just played with a different rattle and conversed with Rikki since they couldn't talk to anyone else. Lewis just talked to Matt while Matt drove, and before they knew it they were pulling into Lewis' driveway.

**A/N Sorry this took me so long to update! I have just been really busy, a bit lazy, and had some writers block, but I hope you like this chapter! Please read & review!**


	8. Home

Chapter 8: Home

On the day that they were supposed to be getting back, Ash and Zane went over to Lewis's house to wait for them. When they saw the first and second car they were disappointed to see many people they didn't know.

"Where are they?" Ash asked

"They're probably still on their way, they had a pretty big group," Zane said.

Then, just when everyone else was inside, a third car came, but again Ash and Zane were disappointed to see it was just Lewis, some other guy and a bunch of babies.

"Lewis, where are Rikki, Emma, and Cleo?" Zane asked as Matt and Lewis came out of the car and Lewis went over with Cleo in his hands to confront Zane and Ash while Matt unbuckled Rikki and Emma.

"Did something happen?" Assh asked.

"Kinda," Lewis replied.

"Like kinda what?" Ash asked back.

"And where did all these babies come from?" Zane asked, "Did your mom have quadruplets? I saw her with another baby earlier."

"No, that was my only baby sister Laura," Lewis said beginning introductions, "This is my cousin Matt, and these are three babies we 'found' on the beach."

"Here Zane, you take this baby," He said and Matt handed Rikki to Zane, "and Ash you take this baby," Matt handed Emma to Ash, Lewis hoped that they would recognize their girlfriends, even if they were babies, but they were clueless. Not that he could blame them, he didn't even know it was them at first.

"So you just took them? You should have reported this to the police," Ash said talking about the babies.

"Well, I couldn't do that, you see-" Lewis said, but he was cut off.

"And where are the girls?" Zane interrupted.

"I was just about to tell you guys," Lewis said, "You see those babies in your arms?"

"Yeah," they both answered seriously curious as to what he was getting at.

"Well," Lewis said, "They are your girlfriends."

"You calling our girlfriends babies?" Ash asked.

"Well, yeah, they are literally babies, it happened during the eclipse," Lewis explained.

"Lewis," Zane hissed at him when he realized Matt was right there next to Lewis.

"Oh, its okay, I told him," Lewis replied.

"And I'm the untrustworthy one," Zane said sarcastically.

"I needed his help," Lewis replied sympathetically, "Plus I know I can trust him."

"I guess we'll have to take your word for it," Ash said looking Matt up and down.

"Guys, where are Cleo, Rikki, and Emma?" Lewis's mom asked.

"Um . . . they are at the beach," Lewis said.

"Should we go home too?" Kim asked speaking for herself and Elliot.

"No kids, you're parents said they would pick you up later tonight, I actually wish your older sisters hadn't left. Why don't you go play with Lilly and Christopher?" Lewis's mom replied.

"Okay," Kim replied and left. Then Lewis's mom left too.

"Guys, I think we have to find some way to cover for them, because people are going to start noticing that they are missing," Zane said.

"Matt, could you make those astral drop things again?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah, but I need the Heart of Kandracar," Matt said.

"Could you get it? It's the only option I can think of," Lewis said.

"Okay, just give me fifteen minutes," Matt said going into the house.

"Um Will, can I borrow the Heart of Kandracar?" Matt asked, 'why hadn't I thought of this before, she knows she can trust me,' Matt thought.

"What for?" Will asked. 'Oh yeah, because I didn't know what to say if she asked me why I needed it, guess I will just have to come up with something on the spot," Matt thought.

"Um I need to . . . go talk to . . . the . . . oracle! Yes, the oracle is expecting me," I replied.

"Okay then, but be careful," Will said.

"I will," Matt said taking the Heart of Kandracar outside to the other boys and the babies.

They made astral drops for all the girls, and Ash d Zane were surprised how they looked exactly like their actual girlfriends.

"Cool," Zane said.

"Awesome," Ash said.

And then they began to teach the astral drops how to act like their actual counterparts.

**With the W.I.T.C.H. Girls**

Lewis's and Matt's moms had rented out two rooms at a nearby hotel for the girls and their siblings to stay at, so they were unpacking their things.

"You know, we never did get the chance to talk to Rikki," Will mentioned.

"Yeah, we probably should soon," Irma replied.

"Ooh, What if we invite her to come on a boat ride picnic?" Hay Lin suggested.

"That's a great idea, but we don't have a boat or know anyone who can drive a boat," Cornelia said.

"Lewis has a boat, and I'm sure someone around here can drive a boat," Will said confidently.

"Hey, maybe we should go back and ask someone at the house if they could drive a boat," Taranee said.

**With the little Siblings**

Lillian, Christopher, William, Kim, and Elliot, were just hanging out around Lewis's house.

"What is there to do around here?" Lillian complained.

"Well, there is a water park," Elliot said, pretty sure they would be able to go and get back before their parents come to pick them up.

'Yeah, it's got the most awesome rides," Kim said.

"Then what are we waiting for? We all have swimsuits, and I'm sure we can scrounge up enough money for the four of us," Christopher said.

"Wa abut me?" William asked.

"How about we drop you off with Will?" Lillian asked, not really wanting to babysit the rest of the day.

"Ok," William said, he didn't mind being with his older sister, it's just that he can never really relate to their conversations and is usually left out.

**Back to the W.I.T.C.H. girls**

"Hey Lewis, can we borrow your boat?" Will asked Lewis once they got back to Lewis's house and found him talking to Cleo's astral drop.

"A yeah, but it is pretty small," Lewis said.

"Oh," Will said disappointed, "Do you know anyone with a bigger boat?"

"Zane over there is Rikki's boyfriend, maybe he can help you, his father is really rich," Lewis said gesturing to where Zane was teaching Rikki's astral drop how to be Rikki, the babies where left in Laura's room. "Oh, and can you take Laura with you, I have my hands full with the other babies and my mom went shopping with Matt's mom. Speaking of Matt, he told me to give you this," Lewis said giving Will the Heart of Kandracar.

"Oh, thanks," Will said, "And sure we will, Taranee, can you go get Laura?"

"Sure," Taranee said knowing where the babies were.

**With Zane and Rikki's astral drop**

". . . your best friends are Cleo and Rikki, and I am your boyfriend Zane," Zane explained, "Got that?"

"Yeah, I think so," Rikki's astral drop replied. Thank goodness they had figured out that the astral drops did not have any powers and could not change into mermaids.

"Hey Rikki, can we interrupt?" Will asked.

Rikki's astral drop looked over at Zane who nodded.

"Sure," Rikki's astral drop replied, and walked with them to an area just a bit away from Zane.

"Um . . . we were wondering if maybe we could use your boyfriend Zane's boat, and he could drive, and we could all go out to sea and have a picnic?" Will asked.

"And we can talk about what we told you," Irma added. Rikki's astral drop looked sideways over to Zane who was eavesdropping and gave her another nod.

"Yeah," Rikki's astral drop replied.

"You sure he won't mind?" Will asked.

"Yeah," Rikki's astral drop replied.

Okay then," Will said.

"Will, can you take William?" Lillian asked walking up to Will with William in tow.

"I guess, why?" Will asked.

"Because Kim and Elliot are taking me and Christopher to a water park and I don't think you can trust us with a one year old," Lillian replied.

"Ok," Will said taking William, and Lillian ran back to the others.

**With Taranee and the babies**

'Ugh, which one is Laura?' Taranee thought, 'they all look alike.'

All the babies were in different pairs of Laura's clohing, and they were just crawling around the room, it's not like they could tell her who's who.

'Does it really matter anyway?' Taranee thought, 'they were just going to bring the baby back here anyway. I'll just take this one, who knows? I may be right.' Taranee picked up the blonde baby who she thought might be Laura.


	9. The Picnic at Mako

**A/N Sorry it took me soo long to update this, I have just been soo busy with school work and had some writer's block, but now that summer is here I hope to update a bit more frequently. Thank you to all the people who read this story and especially all the people who have reviewed! Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

Chapter 9: Mako

Zane's P.O.V.

While Zane drove the boat he pretended to be not paying any attention to them, but he was eavesdropping. He had to in case something came up and the astral drop didn't know what to do. They didn't say anything specific out loud, they spoke knowing that only the people who they wanted to hear, understood. This was how he recognized the way Cleo, Rikki, and Emma would speak, talking about their mermaidness without actually saying the real word so people outside of the secret wouldn't know what they were talking about. All the astral drop had to do was nod her head and pretend she knew what they were talking about.

"Hey, what's that?" Hay Lin asked me, she was pointing to Mako island, which was still a good distance away, just barely visible in a small mist that surrounded it.

"That's Mako Island." I replied.

"Ooooh! Lets have an island picnic! It will be much better than a boat one! " Hay Lin explained, "And we could even go exploring through the jungle!"

"Sure, why not?" Will said.

"I hear there are a lot of wild animals on that island, dangerous ones," Zane said, knowing the girls would hate him if he let them go exploring and they found the moon pool.

"Aww, come on, it will be fun! Haven't you ever wanted to go exploring on that island since you live here?" Irma asked.

"I've been there before, just not in the jungle part too much," I replied giving in, what else could I say, "Fine, but just be careful there." I turned the boat in that direction, knowing I'd regret it.

William's P.O.V.

Okay, so now we are going to an island. Great. I am sooo bored, there is nothing to do on this boat! Nothing for me to play with, no one for me to have a conversation with. Well, there is that baby Laura, maybe she is bored too, I guess I'll just talk to her. I crawled over to were she was sitting, she is wearing small overalls with a red shirt and most likely a diaper underneath considering her age.

*Hey Laura,* I started, trying to make conversation.

*I'm not Laura,* She replied turning to face me.

*Sure you are, that's what your parents named you after you were born,* I can't believe she didn't even know her own name, must be a newborn, younger than I thought.

*No, I'm not Laura, I'm Rikki,* She replied, but that was impossible.

*No, that's Rikki,* I replied pointing to the curly blond girl my sister and her friends were talking to.

*Well . . . we're both Rikki* She paused, *Can you keep a secret?*

*Sure, It's not like anyone would understand me anyway, and I'll probably forget in a few years anyway.*

*Okay, well on the night of the eclipse I turned into a baby and Matt made an astral drop to cover for me, that's all you need to know.* She said and turned away from me, staring at nothing in particular.

"Land ho!" Hay Lin shouted as they hit the shore of Mako Island.

Zane's P.O.V.

After we landed they set up their picnic on the beach. I volunteered to watch the babies and leave the other girls to their girl talk, I'm pretty sure I can leave all the nodding to the astral drop. William went off and played in the small waves that reached the shore, but Laura just sat contently on my lap.

"Well Laura I guess it is just you, me and William for a while." She shook her head.

"No? Why no?" I asked wishing I could understand baby language, but then she looked up at me and kissed me on the cheek. Now I know what no meant.

"Rikki? How did you get here?" I asked, expecting no answer from Rikki as a baby.

Instead of answering she just pointed to the boat and towards the Gold Coast.

"I know you don't want them to be here, but I can't just push them into the boat, tie them down, and bring them back to shore!" She gave me that look to say 'Why not?'

"Because that's immoral Rikki, I'd be arrested if someone saw." I reasoned. She got off my lap and started crawling toward the water planning, no doubt, to swim away if I didn't make the girls get into the boat and leave Mako. She can be pretty stubborn at times.

"Oh, come on Rikki, don't be like this," I said, a bit loudly, as I picked up Rikki who squirmed in my hands.

"What did you call her?" Will asked, apparently I spoke a little too loud, all the girls were looking at me, waiting to hear my answer though they already knew.

"Well, you see, this is not Laura, I can tell. This is one of the babies you guys brought home from the trip. She reminds me of Rikki, so that's what I call her."

"Taranee, you grabbed the wrong baby?" Will asked Taranee.

"I couldn't tell who was who! They're all babies and it is not like I've spent much time with either one of them." Taranee explained.

"It's fine, we have one out of four babies, does it really matter which one we have?" Irma stated.

"Hey Zane," Cornelia said, "Is that volcano over there dormant?"

"Yeah, for many years now, but you probably shouldn't go over there," I replied.

"Ooooh! How about we go on a nature hike through the forest!" Irma said.

"Well, I don't think . . ." I started, but was cut off.

"That would be soo much fun!" Hay Lin exclaimed.

"Let's do it!" Will said, "William, come here, we are going on a hike!"

"Yay!" William said running up to Will and holding her hand as they began to walk into the woods.

"Please don't hate me for this Rikki," I said to the baby in my hands, following in the back of the line, but in response I got a burning sensation on my arm where the baby's hand rested.

"Ow!" I said shifting her into my other arm to examine the small burn I got leaving a small hand-shaped red mark on my arm, "What are the chances they will find the moon pool anyways, plus its not even a full moon tonight."

I whispered the last part so no one could hear, and at least she didn't burn me again.

Rikki's P.O.V.

Zane didn't get it, totally, I was worried about the moon pool, but there was something else I was worried about. Zane maybe didn't know it, but the leaves on all the trees were wet. It must have rained while we were gone, he didn't notice because the drops were really small, the only reason I noticed it was because ever since I became a mermaid I've looked out for every single drop of water. I was worried that one drop might fall onto me and I would turn into a mermaid in front of everyone!

Just then the group stopped by a small little pond because it had lots of wildlife and Taranee wanted to get a picture of it with her digital camera she brought along for who knows what reason. Will was letting William play with the water in his hands, and it was pretty hot out so some of them, meaning Irma and Hay Lin, started to spray themselves in the face with water. My own self, meaning my astral drop, just stood off to the side away from everyone else confused and not doing anything until Cornelia, not wanting to touch the murky pond water walked up to her to talk while the others played. I hope she wasn't going to give away not being me by the way she is acting.

Zane and me stood off to the side a good distance away from the others in a clearing so I wasn't too worried as I watched the astral drop and Cornelia interact while Zane stared off into the trees thinking about something to himself. That's when I felt it, water, then I looked in front of me to see that Irma girl spraying water droplets on me from her hands thinking of it as some sort of game! I started to squirm and once Zane noticed he began telling the girl to stop something about me fearing or hating water or something, I didn't catch it all, I was counting down the seconds until I would be exposed., 6,5,4, then my baby instincts kicked in, I was nervous and scared so I began to cry, loud and hard, at the top of my lungs!

"I have to take her back to shore so you guys can enjoy your hike," I heard Zane say quickly, "Come back to the beach when you are done."

Then he turned around and ran toward the beach just before I transformed into a mermaid right in his arms.

We had just made it to the beach and slowed down when Irma ran up to us in a rush to apologize. Neither I nor Zane had time too react.

"Hey look, I'm sorry, I didn't know she was afraid of-" Irma said pausing midsentence as she gazed upon me in mermaid form luckily not knowing that it was me, "is she a mermaid?"

"Sure looks like it, she was a lost child found on the beach," Zane said pretending he didn't know it was me. Pretending that maybe I was some mermaid child from merpeople parents who had run away to land or something weird like that.

"That is so weird, can I hold her?" Irma asked, and I seriously hoped he would say no, the last thing I wanted was for her to be able to get a closer look at me mermaid form.

"Um, sure," He said just handing me over, he was surely going to get it when this was all over!

She just kind of held me up and looked at me a bit, it wasn't long before the sun dried me off. In case you are wondering, I didn't want her to see my powers just in case she might relate it to earlier uses on the trip.

"Hey, I don't think you should tell this to anyone," Zane said doing the right thing for once, "she could end up in a lab or something."

"Oh, I won't," She said but I noticed in her eyes what I noticed in a lot of people when they held secrets and were lying to keep that secret a secret, she was probably going to tell her fairy friends or something, but hopefully they won't tell anyone else.

"Okay, I will stay with her on the beach," Zane said, "you can go back to your friends and come back here when you are done, but don't go too far, it can get pretty dangerous deep in the woods."

"Okay, good plan, I will see you guys later," Irma said running back into the forest to catch up with her friends.

"The astral drop will be okay," Zane said, mostly speaking to himself, "I hope."

**A/N Please R&R! I will update ASAP! :D**


	10. Magic

**A/N Another chapter! Told you they would be coming quicker :)! Hope you like and thank you to all my reviewers for this story though I have none for the last chapter :( I hope to get more for this one! :)**

**Read & Enjoy!**

Chapter 10: Magic

Irma's P.O.V.

I can't believe it, mermaids exist! Maybe that is what the Oracle meant when she said there were other kinds of magic! I better tell the others so we can bring the baby to Kandracar to show Oracle. When I caught up with them they were standing by the small pond waiting for me.

"Guys, you will never believe what I have to tell you," I said.

"What happened to that baby, is she all right? Zane got pretty freaked out and anxious like something was going to happen to her," Hay Lin said.

"Yeah she's fine, in fact, she's better than fine, she's a mermaid!" I exclaimed, "But now that you mention it, I do think that Zane knew more than he let on."

"We have got to report this to Kandracar tonight," Will said.

"Why not now?" Cornelia asked.

"I don't think the Oracle will be glad to have an uninvited mortal and baby in Kandracar," Taranee stated pointing to Rikki.

"Oh, come on, grandma won't mind meeting Rikki and Will's magical brother! In fact, it might be good for her to meet Rikki since she probably already knows we blabbed, she is the Oracle!" Hay Lin said.

"Your right Hay Lin," will agreed and raised the Heart of Kandracar, "Guardians unite!"

"Water" I said.

"Fire," Taranee said.

"Earth," Cornelia said.

"And air," Hay Lin said.

"The Heart," Will exclaimed and they all transformed into their guardian forms.

Will made a portal and picked up will while Hay Lin grabbed Rikki's hand and they all went through the portal to Kandracar.

"Grandma!" Hay Lin exclaimed running up to her grandma, the oracle, the moment we got there.

"Hello dear, and who do we have here?" Yan Lin said letting go of Hay Lin and turning her attention to Rikki.

"This is Rikki she-" I started to say, but suddenly broke into tears and ran to Yan Lin hugging her tightly and Yan Lin patted her on the back as if she knew this was going to happen.

"There there dear," Yan Lin said to comfort her.

"It's too hard, I just want to go home!" Rikki said, what was she talking about? How did she know Yan Lin, the Oracle.

"I know dear," Yan Lin said, "Will, give me the Heart." Will followed obediently.

Yan Lin held it close and said, "now you may go home," then she quietly said, "astral drop."

Just like that Rikki was gone!

"What happened?" I asked bluntly.

"That young ones, was an astral drop. I could tell the moment I saw her, one of the great gifts of being the oracle," Yan Lin said, "our world was too confusing for her, all the information and rules put on her were too much for her to handle."

"Why did she go to you? No offense, but do you like know eachother or something?" Cornelia asked.

"No, but she recognized me as the oracle, a person who could send her back home," she explained.

"Why didn't she come to us, we are the guardians with the Heart," Will said, "How did she even get away from her home without the Heart?"

"You didn't create her? The only way is through the Heart, someone must have summon her and she could have been told not to tell you guys anything," Yan Lin said.

"It has to have been Matt, he had the Heart earlier, he said he had a meeting with you," Will said.

"I did not have a meeting with Matt recently," Yan Lin said.

"Then why s=did he lie/ Why did he make an astral drop of Rikki? If that was an astral drop, then where is the real Rikki right now?" Will asked.

"Maybe you should ask Matt, he probably knows the answers. He is a nice guy, if you ask him he probably won't lie if its that important," Yan Lin said, "Now, if that astral drop wasn't your real reason for coming here what was?"

"Oh, um, Irma found some magic in Australia," Will said.

"A mermaid baby," I said.

"Where did this baby come from?" Yan Lin asked.

"Well, when we went to a beach to see the eclipse, this other girl that came with Matt's cousin Lewis, Cleo, sat on a picnic blanket with Lewis's baby sister, the other girls stood not too far away, Rikki and Emma. After the eclipse Matt and Lewis found three lost babies on the picnic blanket along with Laura, the other girls were nowhere to be found, apparently they had already went back to their room. We couldn't find their parents there so we took them back here but I am not sure if they filed a police report yet or not. So today we were supposed to be watching Laura, but we believe that Taranee grabbed the wrong baby and just when Irma splashed water on the baby Zane, Rikki's boyfriend, ran off with her. Irma followed and saw that the baby was a mermaid," Hay Lin explained.

"it sounds to me like this Zane fellow may know a little something about this whole mess, try asking him some questions," Yan Lin said.

"That is all you have to say? You're the Oracle, don't you know everything?" I complained.

"I do, but revealing it to you will take away the fun of figuring it out for yourself," Yan Lin said with a smile.

"Okay, so what do we have to do?" Will asked.

"Ask around, test theories, and eventually you will get your answers," Yan Lin said, "now go along kids, it is time for my meditation."

"Okay, bye Grandma!" Hay Lin said giving her grandma one last hug.

"By Oracle Yan Lin," the rest of us said waving as we walked back through the tunnel and back into the Mako jungle.

"Okay, I am going to talk to Zane, I told him I wouldn't tell anyone else. You guys can keep exploring," I said.

"Okay Irma, try to get all the information you can from him," will said, then I walked back to the beach while they walked deeper into the woods.

When I got there I saw Zane sitting with the baby on the picnic blanket, it almost looked like he was talking to her? Not like a baby, but like another person his age, but that can't be right, could it?

"Hey," I said walking over to them which caused him to stop talking, maybe I should have stayed quiet and listened in, I am not too good with this detective stuff,

"Hey, why aren't you with your friends?" Zane asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about the . . . you know what," I said knowing he knew what I was talking about.

"Oh, um, what about it?" He asked.

"Well it just seemed like you knew more about this than what you said. The way you hid her and ran when she got wet, it seemed like you were trying to protect her, which means you knew," I stated.

"Well, the truth is," He started then hesitated, "I did know. Earlier today, I helped give them a bath and, well, they turned. Me and the boys decided it would be best not to tell anyone, but we also couldn't report them missing to the police, if they somehow found out about you know what, these poor, innocent babies would become experiments!"

"True, but are you sure there isn't anything else you know?" I said kind of suspicious that he could be lying.

"Yeah, that's it, I was just as stunned as you were. You didn't tell anyone did you?" He asked.

"Nope, not a soul, they don't suspect a thing," I said trying to get his trust.

"Okay then, that's all there is to it," Zane said trying to end the conversation that was not very helpful in my favor.

"Okay, then I should probably get back to my friends," I said, "See you later."

"Okay, remember be careful," He said yet again, he must be seriously worried about us.

I walked into the jungle then ran ahead on the path we had made earlier and found them not too far from where I left them.

"Did you find anything out?" Hay Lin asked me.

"No, just that all three of the babies found were mermaids," I replied.

"Okay, so here's what we know," Will said as we kept walking forward, "Three babies are found apparently missing on the beach, they are all mermaids, and Rikki was an astral drop so we don't know where the real Rikki is. The only person who we know knows is Matt, but we are not even sure if he will tell us the truth since he has already lied to me."

"I say we talk to Matt, and if he doesn't tell us anything we question her friends, they probably know something. As for the mermaid thing, I say we keep an eye on the babies who are mermaids maybe we can find out more about them," Cornelia suggested which I have to admit was a pretty good idea.

"Good idea Cornelia," Will said sounding a bit surprised.

"You sound surprised?" Cornelia stated.

"Well, it is usually Taranee who gets the good ideas while you don't pay attention to the topic and instead worry about your hair, make-up, and clothes," Will said matter-of-factly. Everyone besides Cornelia laughed, Cornelia just grunted and moved ahead of us.

"Hey, there's a tunnel over here, think we should check it out?" Cornelia said looking down at a barely visible hole, good thing none of us fell in!

"What if we get stuck in?" hay Lin said, "and why do you, Cornelia Hale, want to explore a dirty hole in the ground?"

"I don't know, it just feels like the earth around in there is calling me, like its magic," Cornelia said, "I think we should check it out."

Just then I too got a weird sensation, the water calling me, but instead of coming from the nearby waterfall it came from inside the hole.

"I think there is water in there too, magical, just like Cornelia said," I said.

"Okay, but we might not all fit, we don't know how big this cave is," Will said, "Cornelia and Irma, you two check it out since you both have the feeling, then call us if it is big enough to fit all of us.

"Okay," we both said and Cornelia went down first with me following and almost crashing into her. We couldn't totally see a way out of this dark cave thing but the water was still calling me and it led me to a hole that was barely visible so I went through it with Cornelia following to find that we were actually inside of the volcano! The weird thing was that there was a pool in the middle that had a hole in it that probable lead back to the ocean.

"Wow," I said in astonishment at the beauty of it.

'Yeah," Cornelia agreed, "It's big enough for all of us," she shouted to Will, Hay Lin, and Taranee.

When they entered they too stared in awe at the surroundings.

"It's beautiful," Hay Lin said leaning down and dipping her hand in the water.

"This place is filled with magic," Will said, "I can feel its energy."

"Me too," we all agreed.

"But what does this mean?" Taranee asked.

"I don't know," replied Will, "I guess it means that this is the other source of magic that the oracle was talking about."

"What do we do?" I asked.

"For now? We get back to the beach, it is starting to get dark outside. Now we at least know the source, but we still don't know what kind of magic it is the source of," Will said, "but over the rest of our stay we will do all we need to get the answers we need to bring back to the oracle."

"Sounds good, one problem," Hay Lin said from the other part of the cave near where we got in.

"What is it Hay Lin?" I asked.

"The way we came in is too steep for us to climb back out," Hay Lin said.

"I guess we have to swim out through the hole in the pool," I said.

"Okay," Will said and she got in first then swam under as we followed. When we reached the other side we swam to the nearest part of beach and walked along the shore to where Zane was waiting for them.

"It's getting late," Zane said when he saw them, "why are you guys all wet?"

"It's kind of a long story but I'll cut it short," Cornelia said pissed off about her new clothes being soaked, "we fell in a hole and had to swim out another way. Let's go."

We all climbed into the boat and Zane drove us away. This trip just lead us to more questions with no answers, this was going to be a long trip.

**A/N so what did you think? Please R&R your opinions, they are well appreciated. :D**


	11. Astral Drops

**A/N I am soooo sorry it took me so long! Its just that there has been such crazy weather lately! Either too hot to stand being in the non-air conditioned computer room or a big storm during which we can't use the computer in case the power goes out! But I'm, glad I finally got it up! :)**

**And to all of you reading my other story, I will try to update it either this week or next week :)**

Chapter 11: Astral Drops

**Rikki's P.O.V.**

I can't believe it! Zane should have listened to me when I told him they had to leave Mako! They found the moon pool, Zane is just lucky tonight isn't a full moon! Wait a second, where is Rikki? I mean astral drop Rikki, she isn't on the boat! How could I have not noticed this earlier?

I crawled up to Zane at the front of the boat and tugged on his shirt pointing to the back of the boat. It took him a few seconds to realize what I was saying but he eventually got it.

"Guys, where's Rikki?"Zane asked the girls, they stopped their conversation and looked to each other wondering what to say, what did they do to her/me?

"Well, um, on the way here we passed by Lewis who came over in his boat to tell us we were wanted back at his place, he took Rikki but we decided to come back here to deliver the news and head there with you," Irma lied after a long moment of awkward silence.

"Yeah," Will agreed, "She said she wanted to . . . get there quickly to tell her friends about the pool we found."

"That doesn't sound like her at all," Zane said.

Yeah, why would I get on a boat alone with Lewis just to go to his house and tell Cleo and Emma about something we found years ago? They're definitely lying, but what could they have done to her? Did they find out she is an astral drop? Did they do something to her that they would have done to me because they told me their secret and then decided they couldn't trust me? I'm glad that wasn't really me.

Zane just kept going, probably thinking Lewis just wanted the astral drop for something. It wasn't long until we finally reached the beach of the Gold Coast. Once there the girls went off to do who-knows-what taking William with them and Zane carried me back to the house where Lewis and the others were.

"Where's Rikki?" Zane asked Lewis when they got to the living room where Emma and Cleo's astral drops were mindlessly watching some nature show and Lewis and Ash were sitting on the floor playing with/talking to the babies.

"Right here," Lewis said pointing to a baby wearing a little pink dress that snapped underneath her diaper like a onesie.

"That's not what I'm talking about but no, this is Rikki, the girl grabbed the wrong baby to take on the picnic. I'm talking about the you-know-what," Zane said remembering Matt's warning about what would happen if he said astral drop in front of one.

"Oh, she was with you too," Lewis said.

"The girls told me you picked her up in your boat while they were walking to the boat and brought her back here!" Zane said.

"What do you mean 'walking to the boat' I thought you guys had a boat picnic, as in staying in the boat," Ash said.

"Well they saw Mako Island and decided to have the picnic there," Zane said.

"And you let them?" Lewis questioned already knowing the answer, "And why were they walking back to the boat alone?"

"Well there was an accident," Zane said vaguely.

"What did you do?" Lewis said jumping to conclusions, he never really liked Zane.

"Nothing! They decided to go on a hike, I told them to stay away from the volcano and be careful so they wouldn't fall in the hole. Then that girl Irma splashed water on Rikki from a nearby pond only a few minutes into the hike. She began to cry really loudly and I made an excuse to leave but Irma followed to apologize and saw Rikki. She doesn't know it was Rikki, she just thinks she is one of the lost babies." Zane explained.

*You cried?* Emma said.

*Oh shut up, I'm a baby! What else was I supposed to do! I couldn't run for cover and Zane was too busy giving and explanation and I gave him an excuse to leave!* Rikki said a bit embarrassed.

*She saw you?* Cleo asked.

*Yeah, but she didn't know it was me and Zane convinced her not to tell anybody though I'm pretty sure she told her fairy friends,* Rikki explained.

"So what happened next?" Ash asked.

"Well then they continued the hike without me, I didn't want another accident like that occurring. Irma came back after a while to ask some questions but I just told her we found out when giving them a bath and decided not to tell anyone or report to the police to keep it a secret and she ran back to her friends. Then about a half hour later they walked back to the boat soaking wet and told me they had been to the moon pool," Zane finished.

"They told you they had been to the moon pool?" Ashe asked.

"Well not in those exact words, Cornelia said they had fallen into the hole and had to swim out, it had to be the moon pool," Zane said.

"Well if you don't know where she is, and we don't know where she is then where is she?" Ash asked.

"They must have said astral drop and she disappeared, their onto us. They probably are looking for Matt to ask him about it right now," Lewis suggested.

"Then we need to find him first, we can't let him give away the secret!" Zane said.

"He's right," Ash said, "I still don't completely trust that guy."

"That guy is my cousin, and I do trust him!" Lewis said, "And we're in luck, he was sent by his mom to go with the kids to the marine park to supervise even if it was against their wishes to not be treated like babies. He won't be back for an hour or so."

"That gives us some time, we gotta throw them off our tracks, but how?" Ash suggested.

"We just gotta keep them away from the babies and the a-s-t-r-a-l drops," Lewis said.

"Sounds easy enough now can we go get some food, I'm starving! I didn't get to eat anything at that picnic. Plus, I can't remember ever feeding the girls, it should be interesting to have to eat baby food," Zane said.

Now that he mentions it, I am really hungry, but there is no way I want to eat baby food! But after they realized what he was saying was true, they had only given us some bottles to drink but that wasn't enough, they picked us up and we went to the kitchen, leaving the astral drops behind in the TV room.

**Will's P.O.V.**

We couldn't find Matt anywhere! He had a lot of explaining to do! How could he lie to get the Heart away from me and use it to create an astral drop of a girl now missing?

After a while of searching around the house we ran into his mom ho said he went to watch the kids at the marine park. We thought about going there to find him but decided against it, we could wait until he got back.

We went to the TV room and found Emma and Cleo sitting on the couch watching some nature show, maybe they could help us.

"Hey, do either of you know where Rikki is?" I asked, they both wordlessly shook their heads keeping their eyes on the screen. Then I decided to take a risk, hoping it would be worth it, "astral drop!" It was, they both disappeared into thin air.

"They were astral drops too? How could we not have noticed?" Irma said.

"How could Matt lie to me? Why didn't he just tell the truth?" I said mostly to myself.

"Where are the girls anyway?" Taranee said.

"Wherever they are Matt had to have made the astral drops so they could sneak away somewhere private," Cornelia said.

"Maybe Lewis can help, he is their friend so he may be able to help us figure out where they might go to where they don't want anyone to follow," Hay Lin suggested.

We found Lewis in the kitchen with two other boys feeding the babies food they obviously didn't like. We asked him to talk to us in the room next door.

"Hey Lewis, do you know where Rikki, Cleo, and Emma would go where they wouldn't want anyone to follow them or even realize they are gone?' I asked him.

I saw in his eyes that he did know, and it took him a while to answer, "No, I don't."

We all knew he was lying but how could we get him to spill the truth?

"Sorry guys, I gotta go help the boys with the babies, their being really fussy about the food," Lewis said excusing himself out of this awkward situation. He didn't help us one bit, there was only one boy whom I knew could help us, Matt. He may have lied to me before, but there is no way he can keep from telling the truth to his girlfriend!

**A/N Hope you enjoyed and please review! I will update ASAP though with school starting up it might take me even longer to update :( though I will have my own laptop so that should help :)!**


	12. Matt

**A/N Sorry to all of you faithful viewers, especially nina19123 who reminded me I needed to get this chapter out soon it has been way too long and I am really sorry. I hope this makes up for it, it's not my best but it is something. Please R&R, all reviews are appreciated! :D**

Chapter 12 Matt

Will's P.O.V.

Matt has a lot of explaining to do, how could he lie to me like that? Why did he need to make astral drops of those three girls he barely know? Why was he trying to cover for these girls? What were they hiding from us?

The W.I.T.C.H girls and I just hung around our room for an hour, not saying much, Irma even dozed off for a while. When we figured he would be there we went back to Lewis' house.

"Hey, is Matt here yet?" I asked Lewis who I saw first when I entered the house, he was holding the brunette haired baby, and Laura on his lap.

"No, he should be here soon though, I was just texting him and he said they were leaving," Lewis said. Why hadn't I thought of texting?

"Okay, do you mind if we stay here and wait with you guys?" I asked him, Zane and another guy I didn't know were also in there, each holding a baby. It's nice to know some guys who actually don't care about having to take care of babies, most boys I know would just lay the baby down and go play a video game or something.

"No, not at all," Lewis said and me and the girls spread out around the room, each finding a place to sit.

I'm surprised they didn't ask us where their girlfriend's are, or do they know? That would make sense, they want to cover for their girlfriends and Matt is willing to help out his favorite cousin. But that also means he told them our secret, how could he betray us like that?

I sat there deep in thought for about 10 minutes before Matt finally came home.

"Matt, we need to talk," I said to him right when I saw him, and then I dragged him into the kitchen to talk privately. The W.I.T.C.H. girls understood I wanted to talk to him alone and just stayed where they were, watching some TV show. Lillian and Christopher came in and sat down on the floor, I guess Kim and Elliot went home.

Matt's P.O.V.

Uh oh, she sounds angry, Lewis told me they figured out about the mermaid babies and astral drops. Boy am I in trouble.

"I know you lied to me to get the heart. I know you told them all about our secret. I know you made astral drops of the three girls, and I want to know why," She said.

It took me a while to find the right words to say, I couldn't lie to her, she would know, but I also can't tell a secret that is not mine to share. I could tell she was very impatient to hear what I had to say.

"I promised I wouldn't tell, but I will give you a hint," I said hoping she will be able to figure it out for herself.

"Okay, tell me the hint," she said.

"If you take all that you know and think beyond realistic reasoning, which shouldn't be too hard to do for you, you will find your answer," I replied mystically, it's kind of fun to tell the truth but not the whole truth to leave some mystery.

"That's too vague," she complained, "You owe me more than that." She was right.

"Three girls are missing, at the same time three babies are found. Not only that, but these babies are mermaids. You had your own suspicions about the girls being magical before, what if they were? The babies didn't come from the ocean, people would've seen them. The girls didn't leave, who would leave in the middle of such an amazing event? So the question is, how did the girls disappear and how did the babies just randomly appear in their place," I said, how much clearer can I be without giving away the actual truth? "Really think about it."

She didn't get it, I could see that. She either doesn't get it at all or gets it, but doesn't believe it, it does sound pretty impossible.

"That's all I can tell you," I said.

"Well that was no help! I still don't get what's going on," Will replied.

"I've been as clear as I can be, I don't know what else to tell you," I said.

"Tell me the whole truth," she begged.

"You know I can't do that, I promised and I never break my promises," I said.

"That didn't seem to be a problem when you told them our secret!" Will replied.

"I needed to help them, they could've gotten into tons of trouble otherwise," I replied, "When you figure it out you will understand."

Then I walked past her and back to the den, there wasn't much else I could do.

"So what's on right now?" I asked standing by Lewis who was sitting on the couch.

"Not much, Criminal Minds just ended," Lewis replied.

"You watched Criminal Minds with babies in the room?" I asked surprised.

"Don't worry, on the really scary parts we turned down the volume and covered their eyes," Lewis explained, though I still think it was pretty irresponsible of him.

"Well guys, we better go back to the hotel it's getting late," Will said to Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, William, Christopher, and Lillian.

Then they all got up without protest, Lillian and Christopher were tired from all the things they did at the water park, and it was kind of a big day for everyone. After they left, we put the babies to bed in Laura's crib, it was pretty roomy for a baby's crib. Then Ash and Zane left, but not before giving each of their girlfriends a goodnight kiss. Me and Lewis both slept I his room, his mother set up a small cot next to his bed, she did the same thing in her own bedroom for my mom.

**With the W.I.T.C.H. girls (no one's P.O.V.)**

All the girls were gathered in Will's room, she had just finished telling them exactly what Matt had told her.

"You think he's suggesting that during the eclipse Rikki, Cleo, and Emma turned into baby mermaids?" Irma said.

"Or maybe he is saying that the girls were magical, but possibly the magic got out of hand during the eclipse and they turned themselves into baby mermaids?" Hay Lin said.

"Or they were just girls in the wrong place at the wrong time, maybe they were turned into baby mermaids by one of their enemies with magic or even by the magic of the eclipse itself. We definitely know how powerful and magical nature can be," Cornelia asked.

"All we can tell is that magic is involved some way or another, and that the three girls are not missing, but are in the form of the three babies we found that are mermaids according to Irma," Taranee said.

"I still think it's fishy (no pun intended), it just doesn't seem realistic," Will said, "Girls turning into mermaids and babies all because of an eclipse? It just doesn't seem right."

"Does it seem right that we turn into guardians with fairy wings to protect a veil between earth and many other worlds?" Taranee asked Will as a rhetorical question.

"That's different," Will said even though she knew it wasn't.

"It's not and you know it, it could've happened by magic with no logical explanation," Taranee said, "didn't Matt tell you to look beyond realistic reasoning?"

"I guess you're right, but I think we should search around for them, we don't know the area very well, but I bet it won't be too hard to find the major hot spots and we might even find them there. Plus I don't think Mrs. McCartney would mind telling us where they lived, we could check their house. It could've been a lot more reasonable than he hinted at, he could've been trying to trick us." Will said.

"That's highly unlikely since you're his girlfriend and he is usually pretty serious when it comes to magical business. But whatever floats your boat," Irma said.

"Can we do it tomorrow? It's like 10:00 and I need my beauty sleep," Cornelia complained.

"Fine, we search around tomorrow, if we don't find them we go to Matt and tell him our theories, he'll have to tell us if we are right or not," Will said.

"Sounds like a plan," Hay Lin said. Then they all said goodnight to each other and went to bed for the night.

**A/N I'm soo sorry it took so long to update this. I've been really busy lately with homework and such. Plus I had some writers block and I was trying to figure out how long this story was going to be, I don't want to end it too abruptly. So far I think it will only be about 15 chapters but it may extend. So hope you enjoyed and please review! :D**


	13. Discoveries

**A/N Soooooo sorry this took so long to come out! For the most part I was really busy w/school work and such, and even a bit of writer's block. I hope this chapter makes up for at least some of the wait and I hope to get the next chapter as soon as I can.**

Chapter 13: Discoveries

Will's P.O.V.

The next day, after eating breakfast, we asked Mrs. McCartney were we could go to hang out, she said the best place was a café called "Juicenet." We also asked her if she knew where we could find the girls, and she gave us Cleo's address, apparently Lewis and her have been friends since their childhood. So we split up, me, Taranee, and Cornelia are going to Cleo's house, and Irma and Hay Lin are going to the "Juicenet" café.

When we got to Cleo's house we rang the doorbell and Kim answered.

"Oh, hi," Kim said, "You guys are Matt's friends."

"Yeah, do you know where your sister is?" I asked her.

"No, I bet she stayed over at one of her friends house, she does that a lot, especially on full moons, though I don't see what the big deal is," Kim replied, "Or she is at Mako, her and her friends are always going there."

"Really, why?" I asked her.

"Beats me, Cleo has always been weird," Kim said.

"What do you mean by weird?" Cornelia asked.

"Well, ever since about three years ago, she has been paying me to do her chore of doing the dishes, no matter how much I raise the price," Kim replied, "And she always freaks about getting just a bit of water on her."

"Hey, look at this," Taranee said, while we were talking she was just taking a look around the room and she found a picture, specifically a baby picture that look exactly like the brunette baby.

"That's a baby picture of Cleo, so what?" Kim asked.

"No reason, I just thought it was cute," Taranee covered up.

"Thanks for the info Kim, we will definitely check out Mako," I told her.

"Okay, whatever," Kim replied, then we left and she closed the door behind us.

We now decided to go to the "Juicenet" to meet Irma and Hay Lin to see if they found anything out, but everything was becoming much clearer now.

Once we got to the "Juicenet" we found Hay Lin and Irma sitting at a booth, each with their own drink, and walked over to them.

"Hey, did you find anything out?" I asked them.

"No," Irma replied slurping her smoothie, "just that they have really good smoothies here!"

"Actually we did find something out," Hay Lin said, "Emma works here, and she was supposed to be working today. She didn't show up, or even call in sick or something, and apparently she is always early and never forgets anything."

"Well, actually only Hay Lin found that out because she was using the air to eavesdrop on the conversation between a worker and the manager," Irma said.

"In my defense, we asked and they wouldn't tell us anything," Hay Lin, "I was forced to get information by my own means."

Anyway, so we sat down and told them all about what we learned.

"Wait, so do you think the girls were mermaids, then because of the eclipse they turned into babies?" Irma asked.

"I guess, but I never thought that an eclipse would have anything to do with mermaids," I said, "But Cleo's sister Kim did say that she would always sleep over at her friend's house for the full moon, though I can't exactly figure out why."

"Maybe we can find out by looking it up," Taranee said, and we went over to one of the computers at the front and looked up 'mermaids and the moon."

Surprisingly, a lot of stuff came up; we clicked on the first link which looked promising. It told of a very old legend came up about how the full moon could mesmerize and even control mermaids, and the next day they forget everything.

"It's almost like they are werewolves," Irma said reading over Taranee's shoulder.

"Yeah, but it still doesn't explain much," Taranee said, "During the solar eclipse there is a new moon, not a full moon."

"Then try looking that up separately," I told her, and she did typing into the search box 'mermaids on a solar eclipse' and clicked on the first link.

This page had a list of different space phenomenons like the alignment of planets, eclipses, etc. Then it said how mermaids could be affected, but for solar eclipse all it said was 'undetermined.'

"Well what is that supposed to mean?" Cornelia asked to no one in particular.

"It means anything could happen to them," Taranee said.

"Even turning into babies? That seems a little far-fetched don't you think?" I said.

"Hey look, there is some contact information on the bottom," Hay Lin said looking at the bottom of the page where it said 'Questions?' and gave an address and phone number along with the name C. Watsford, "It doesn't sound like it is too far from here."

We wrote down the address and went on our way. We had to ask for directions a few times but eventually we made it to the right address, it was only about 15 min. away. I was the one who had to go up to the door and knock.

"Hello, what do you want?" The girl who opened the door asked.

"Um, we are here to see C. Watsford," I replied, "we want to talk to her about her website on mermaids."

"C. Watsford is me, Charlotte," Charlotte said putting her hand out in a way of greeting and I shook it.

"I am Will, and that is Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin," I said.

"Come in," she said and lead us into the living room, once we were seated she continued to talk us, "you came at a goof time, my mom is at the mall and shouldn't be back for another hour or so. So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, on the page where it says what could happen to mermaids during certain timings, like planet alignment and the full moon, what do you mean by 'uncertain' for solar eclipses?" I asked.

"I am only getting what I read from my grandmother's diary, but according to her I guess anything could happen to the mermaid in question," Charlotte replied.

"Even turn them into babies?" Irma asked.

"I guess so," Charlotte said thinking about it, "Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know if we should tell you . . ." I said.

"Don't worry you can trust me," Charlotte said, "I used to be a mermaid but lost my powers during the planetary alignment, and my grandma was the same way."

"Okay, well let's just say that we are from America, as you can probably tell from our accents, and we came here with my boyfriend Matt to see his cousin Lewis and –" I started but then she cut me off."

"Lewis? Lewis McCartney?" She asked.

"Yeah, you know him?" I replied.

"We used to go out, I was his girlfriend for a while," she said and then there was a moment of silence until she added, "Is this about Cleo, Rikki, and Emma?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Cornelia asked.

"I used to be frenemies with them, they were always great friends of Lewis, so we met when I started dating him. I eventually figured out that they were all mermaids and became a mermaid to become more accepted into the group," Charlotte said, "then they hated me because I was more powerful than them and Cleo was in love with Lewis, so eventually I gave up my powers and left the group entirely."

"That's so sad," Hay Lin said.

"It's okay, it was kind of my fault, I got kind of power crazed. I don't deal well with power," Charlotte said, "so do you mean to say that they are babies?"

"Well, we don't know for sure," I told her, "During the solar eclipse we left Cleo, Rikki, and Emma with Laura, Lewis' baby sister, and when we came back there were three babies and the girls were nowhere to be found. We couldn't even find the parents of the babies."

"And they are still babies?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"That's terrible! They should have turned back right at sunrise!" Charlotte said getting up abruptly, "unless . . . "

"Unless what?" Irma asked curiously.

"Unless the moon meant for them to never change back," Charlotte concluded.

**A/N Thanks for reading & (I hope) enjoying! Sorry it took so long to come out, but I was very busy and I had some writer's block.**


	14. The Potion

**A/N Finally here is the 14****th**** chapter! Sorry for the long wait! And sorry it is kinda short, the next one will be longer I promise! :)**

Chapter 14

Will's P.O.V.

"There must be something we can do," I said suddenly feeling sorry for the girls we barely knew.

"There may be one thing," Charlotte said getting a book from the shelf and paging through it, "Ah here it is!"

"What is that?" Irma asked.

"It is a book my grandmother made of a bunch of mermaid spells she found in various books and such," Charlotte replied, "I found one specifically for reversing the otherwise permanent effects of the solar eclipse."

"That's perfect," Hay Lin said.

"Well I'm going to need your guys' help," Charlotte said, "Three of you are going to have to get the girls, there is no way anyone there would let me take them. Then the other two of you are going to have to come with me to get the ingredients, most of which are found in the ocean. My mom has a boat with some diving equipment, and I know where each of these ingredients could be found so it shouldn't take too long."

Taranee, Cornelia, and I went to get the babies while Irma and Hay Lin went with Charlotte. It wasn't too hard, they were in the nursery with Laura, down for a nap; Laura was the only one in a crib so it was easy to know who we were supposed to get. We got out easily enough; I don't think anyone even knew we were there. We were lucky that they were all asleep; I just hope that will last a while. The ingredients must have been really easy to find because they were back about the same time as us. I don't know what even half of that stuff was, but it all looked gross.

"What is that stuff?" I asked Irma who was carrying a bucket full of mushy looking stuff colored various shades of green.

"I honestly have no idea," Irma said, "but it smells disgusting!"

"Is that really them?" Charlotte said looking at the girls we were holding.

"We think so," I told her.

"They look so sweet and innocent," Charlotte said, "such a strange disguise."

"We better do this quick," Taranee said, "I don't think they would willingly do this if they were awake, even if it does help them."  
"You're right, they would never trust me," Charlotte said, "Plus, my mom should be here soon, I'm actually surprised she is not here already."

So we all had to crowd into the bathroom to make the potion. We also had to stay very quiet and work quickly. Charlotte was the one who made the potion; she filled the tub with water and dumped all the ingredients in, stirring thoroughly.

"Now comes the hard part," Charlotte said, "you need to wake them up. They need to use their powers on the potion to activate it."

"Do you think they would?" I asked, surprisingly they were still asleep.

"No, probably not," Charlotte said, "they don't trust me."

So, gently, they woke each of the girls one by one.

'Where the hell are we?' Rikki said wiping her eyes and yawning.

'Looks like a bathroom,' Cleo stated.

'Guys! This is Charlotte's bathroom!' Emma exclaimed.

'How do you know?' Rikki asked her, and Emma simply pointed behind Rikki to wear Charlotte was standing.

"They should be thinking rationally, otherwise they would act more like babies," Charlotte said.

"Guys, this is Charlotte, and she is going to help you guys return to normal," Will explained, speaking gently but trying not to sound demeaning as she was talking to people her own age in baby form.

"She has this special potion made exactly for this situation," Taranee explained, "she got it from her grandmother's diary."

"All you have to do is add your powers to it, then get in," Irma said.

'Guys, it is Charlotte,' Rikki stated, "there is no way we can trust her."

'I don't know,' Cleo said.

'What do you mean you don't know?' Rikki asked.

'Well, what have we got to lose?' Cleo said, 'I don't want to have to start the whole life cycle over again!'

'She's got a point,' Emma said, 'but who knows what the potion will actually do.'

'We won't know until we give it a try,' Cleo said coaxing her friends because she really wanted to take any chance to return herself to normal, and she knew she could trust Gracie.

'Fine, I guess trying couldn't hurt,' Emma said.

'Yeah, what have we got to lose,' Rikki agreed, Cleo had always had a way of bringing them together.

So they all nodded their heads in agreement to show the other girls that they would do it. Each one was lifted over the tub.

'Ewe, it smells gross!' Rikki exclaimed holding her nose as she and they others spread their hands over the mixture and simultaneously used their powers.

When they were done the mixture gargled a little, and when it finally settled they were lowered into it. Luckily, they made it shallow enough that the babies' heads stayed above water, even though they did have to keep their hands on them to hold them up. Oddly enough, they didn't turn into mermaids from the mixture, and at first it seemed like nothing was going to happen. But then they started growing . . .

**A/N Again, and I know this is getting old, but I am REALLY TRULY SORRY about the late update! A number of factors played into this fact, but mostly no time and writer's block :/ BUT I do have a great idea for the next chapter so it should be out soon :)**


	15. Tiny Tots

**A/N Sorry for the long wait, but here it finally is, Chapter 15! Thank you to all you devoted readers and reviewers! & to everyone reading - please review!**

Chapter 15: Tiny Tots

Emma's P.O.V.

At first I was excited, I could feel myself growing, but then something weird happened. I felt myself fading, not my body but my mind. I was no longer in control of my body, yet I could see through my own eyes what my body did. It seemed like another, younger spirit took over. My body was splashing in the gooey mixture, enjoying its texture. This must be what possession feels like. There was a now a voice in my head. I know, weird right? But I guess it is a good thing since now I can't talk to anyone but myself.

'Ha ha! Wee!,' the voice said, it sounded like me when I was younger.

'Who are you?' I asked it.

'I'm Em-ma' she said dragging out the name, 'I'm 2 years old!'

'So are you like the younger me? Does that even make any sense?' I asked it.

'yup' it replied, I don't think it fully understood what I was talking about.

So, it is my inner child taking over my body. In what universe does this make any sense? I've always heard people mentioning an inner child, the desire to do something crazy, but I have always been pretty good at suppressing those desires cause there was no point to them. Even so, I didn't believe that there was literally an inner child inside us all. This must have been Charlotte's doing, she knew what was going to happen, she did this on purpose! But how in the world would she know how to do something like this? Has this actually happened to the generation of mermaids before? And even if it had, they had to get the formula from somewhere. So many questions so little answers. Anyway, now I am technically stuck as a thought for as long as it takes to get back to normal . . . if that ever happens.

Well, at least I could still see and think, that's a good thing. So, to entertain myself, I looked at my surroundings. The friends of Lewis' cousin Matt were here and they looked pretty happy, they probably knew everything by now, I knew it was only a matter of time before they figured it out anyway. Charlotte was also there and also looking happy, but the smile on her face seemed filled with evil intentions, a cruel smile for the accomplishment of her terrible plan. Then my body turned around, facing the people in the bath with me, Rikki and Cleo. By the looks of their actions, pretty much doing the same thing plus Cleo was making some baby sounds, I was pretty sure the same thing had happened to them. We were all in the same boat, like always since we met, but now we have to suffer alone.

Will's P.O.V.

It looked like it was working, but they were acting really weird. When they were babies, they hardly acted like it, they didn't wake up in the middle of the night, they weren't constantly crying, and they even acted like they could understand what was going on around them. At first I just thought they were smart babies, but I guess what I know figured out does make a bit more sense, or at least much sense as could be for teenagers turning into babies.

"Charlotte? Is that you in there? What are you doing in the bathroom?" Her mom called.

"Guys you can' be here, I am grounded, just leave through the window," Charlotte said frantically opening the window and wildly motioning her hand leading them out. The bathroom was on the first floor so it wasn't that bad.

"What are you doing in there Charlotte?" Her mom asked.

"Nothing mom!" Charlotte yelled but then whispered to us, "just take them, they should grow about an age every hour from now on."

Me, Irma, and Taranee each grabbed one of the children and took them out the window with us despite their protests to stay in the goo and the way they smelled disgusting. I guess Charlotte could drain the mixture, tell her mom there was something wrong with the pipe, or tell her that it was some sort of science experiment or something, I only cared a little cuz I didn't want her to get into more trouble.

Once we got out we set the girls on the ground, considering they could walk on their own now. The problem was that they ran off, we had to chase them all the way to the beach. Luckily, we grabbed them before they reached the water. We held them as we walked back to the house. It was hard at first, but once we got out of sight of the ocean, then they calmed down for the time being. After a while, we even let them just walk by our side, holding hands. It worked for the rest of our walk, excluding the occasional puddle which tempted the girls to use their powers over it and the one time when Cleo jumped into the puddle. Irma used her sweatshirt to dry her off and had to carry her the rest of the way because she fell asleep in her arms. It wasn't long before we reached Lewis' house to find the boys waiting impatiently in the front yard and on the porch. Cleo woke up once they reached the house and practically jumped out of Irma's arms and ran, along with Emma, over to Lewis screaming "Lewi!" He willingly took her up in his own arms.

"What happened? What did you do?" Matt said running up to the group. Lewis and the other boys also came over eagerly, also wondering what had happened.

"We realized what you were trying to tell us, we figured it all out," I said giving a small smile to Matt, "and we decided to help."

"We found a girl who knew all about mermaids and she helped us make a potion to help them get back to their original age," Irma explained.

"They are supposed to grow a year every hour until they get back to normal," Taranee finished, still holding Rikki's hand, which was kinda surprising. She even looked shy, clinging to Taranee and partially hiding behind her.

"So what do we do til then," Lewis asked, holding Cleo in his arm, who was nuzzling against his chest, and holding Emma's hand. Ash and Zane looked a little confused because of how their girlfriends where reacting to them.

"I guess just wait," I replied to him.

"Rikki, don't you remember me?" Zane asked a few feet away and getting down on one knee to meet her eye to eye.

"How do you know my name stranger," She said.

"I'm Zane, I'm your boyfriend," Zane said, "can't you remember me?"

"I'm wikki, I'm 2 years old!" Rikki said, ignoring his question though the answer was obvious. Then she whispered into his ear, "And . . . I'm a mermaid!" She jumped back giggling. He looked very confused.

"Emma, do you recognize me?" Ash asked unsure.

"No," Emma replied confidently and with a smile.

"They seem to have the same mind as when they were two years old," Lewis deduced. "I went to daycare with Emma and Cleo, "Happy House" (Lets pretend :) and I guess they recognize me somehow."

"I went there too," Zane said.

"We weren't really friends back then," Lewis said, "as I recall, you used to play a lot of tricks on us."

"Oh yeah, that was fun," Zane said smiling at the memory.

"Anyway, so we just have to get them to know us again?" Ash asked.

"I guess so, it is possible that they will regain their memories as they grow," Lewis said, "but it is probably good to stay on the safe side and teach them more about their new surroundings which probably surprising for them. Frankly, I'm surprised Rikki is okay, she is technically with a bunch of strangers right now."

Their conversation went on for a while and I kinda zoned out. It had nothing to do with me anyway. Eventually we went back in the house because the girls were getting hungry. After some juice boxes they went to the living room to watch "Barney," and we watched with them because we had nothing better to do. After a while though, Zane took Rikki on a walk because she couldn't sit still and I think he wanted her to get to know him better.

Zane's P.O.V.

It was kind of weird to see my girlfriend at so young an age, so innocent. It made him feel terrible that she couldn't remember him, but he just had to fix that.

"Rikki," I addressed her.

"Yes Zaaane," She replied looking at her shoes and stomping. They were those kind of shoes that lit up when you stomp. Hers just happened to have little lighting bolts on the outer side of the shoe that flashed yellow.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked her again though I pretty much knew the answer.

"Yes," She replied surprisingly, but why hadn't she said so earlier?

"Really? Who am I?" I asked, just to make sure she didn't have me mixed up with someone else from her childhood.

"You are my nanny, mommy hired you to watch me while she worked," She replied to my dismay, but this was a great insight into her life, something to pursue, something that Rikki would never reveal to anyone else on her own.

"What makes you say that? Have you ever seen me before?" I asked her.

"No, but mommy is always hiring new people to watch me, a new person every week," Rikki replied sadly, "I barely ever see her. I wish I could see daddy,"

"Why can't you see daddy?" I asked her sympathetically.

"They are going through a dee-vorce," Rikki said, "for real this time I think."

There was a moment of silence. I knew that her parents had divorced, but I had never actually known how it had affected her. It was a good thing that she lived with her dad now.

"Look! The beach!" Rikki suddenly shouted running to a beach crowded with people, heading straight for the water!

"Rikki stop! Rikki, Come back! We can go swimming later! Come here now!" I shouted at Rikki while running after her, she was pretty fast for a little kid. Add that to the fact that being smaller allowed her to move more easily through the crowd, I fear I won't reach her in time. Luckily though, something distracted her just before she reached the water, something caused her to pause and look down the beach. At least, I thought this was lucky, but I instantly knew I was wrong when I heard her shout, "Daddy!"

**A/N Well I was going to add more, but I really wanted to get out this chapter tonight. So I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! :D**


	16. Deceived

**A/N Thank you to all my faithful readers! I am so sorry this took so long to update, I just get distracted really easily and have trouble focusing on just one story. :P But now it is up, so I hope you read and enjoy! :DDD**

Chapter 16: Deceived

Rikki's P.O.V.

It is really strange being caught in a body you don't have control of; looking at the world through basically someone else's eyes. Yet I was still in my own body, my body was just in a younger form and seemed to be controlled by my own mind when I was a child. It was better being a baby, at least I was in my right mind and could control my actions; now all I could do was just sit back and watch the world through this child's eyes with no influence at all on what goes on.

It was hard enough to listen as the young girl talked to Zane about her – my – situation, or at least it was my situation when I was younger. When I was little and my parents were splitting up I had started out staying with my mom, and because she was always at work I had a nanny to keep watch over me. However, I was a naughty child and I absolutely hated these people because they never let me see my dad, so it was like I had a different nanny every week. Though I did eventually end up with my father, because that is where I truly wanted to be, I didn't see him for years. Still, this was not something I wanted Zane to know, it would just make him feel bad for me, and I didn't want that at all, but there was nothing I could do about it.

When I saw my dad I hardly recognized him at first, though the younger me recognized him right away. He looked many years younger to me, though I knew he wasn't really. I also knew that the younger me was running over to him was not a good thing, but I could hardly get past the excitement running through the child's mind at the sight of the father she never thought she would see again. I could hear Zane calling out my name, but he was too far behind to get the attention of the girl.

"Daddy," she squealed with delight as she jumped up and down in front of my – our – father. What surprised me the most was that he actually got caught up in the moment.

"Hello sweetheart," he said picking me up and swinging me around, but soon enough his face filled with confusion and he corrected his action by setting me down in front of him, "Where is your mommy?"

"I don't like here, she's mean and always working," the girl answered angrily.

"Then who are you here with?" My dad asked looking around confused.

"I am so sorry Terry," Zane said approaching where we stood, "This is my younger cousin, I am supposed to keep watch over her but she got away. For some reason she thinks that everyone is her 'daddy.' We are trying to teach her otherwise."

He scooped me up into his arms though she struggled.

"It's funny though, she looks exactly like Rikki did when she was that age," my father said while smiling at the memory. Good thing there is no way he could jump to the conclusion that it is me.

"Wow, small world I guess," Zane said waving goodbye, "I'll talk to you later mate."

"Wait Zane, speaking of Rikki, you don't happen to know where she is do you?" my father asked, I hope Zane can come up with something quick!

"Well actually, I saw her earlier and she said her Cleo and Emma were sleeping over at a hotel with a bunch of Lewis' cousins girl friends. They had already bought a couple rooms for the month they are in Australia and there was enough room that they could let Cleo, Emma, and Rikki stay with them," Zane replied; that was actually a really good response.

"Okay, that's fine, but could you tell her to call me? I would at least like to know when she is going to be away from home so long," my dad replied. I felt really bad I couldn't at least tell him I wasn't going to be coming home, but there really wasn't much I could do.

"I will if I see her," Zane promised, though that call wouldn't be coming anytime soon.

"Okay thanks, goodbye mate," my dad said waving goodbye and walking away.

"goodbye," Zane replied walking away in the opposite direction, but this did not do for the young me.

"Daddy, Daddy!" she whined. squirming even more now that she was being brought away from her father. Luckily though, he didn't turn around; probably because he did not believe she was talking to him.

"No Rikki calm down, lets go back to the others," Zane said trying to soothe her, luckily catching her hands before she could use her powers on him to get free. For at least half the way back to Lewis' house she struggled to get free, though it was no use against Zane's strength, and the other half of the way she cried.

"Zane what did you do to her?" Ash asked as he let him into the house.

"Nothing, we ran into her father and she didn't want to leave him," Zane explained quickly, "but shouldn't they be getting older now? How long has it been?"

"About two hours since you the girls got here," Lewis replied referring to Matt's friends.

"They don't look like they have aged at all," Matt stated. I should've known that Charlotte's potion wouldn't work. She probably knew exactly what would happen to us and presented it as a cure because it just made us look older than we were.

"Who did you say made the potion that was supposed to help them?" Lewis asked.

"Her name was Charlotte," Will answered.

"That's not good," Lewis said looking despairingly towards Cleo and Emma who were sitting on the floor contentedly watching some cartoon I couldn't identify.

"Why not?" Irma asked curiously.

"Charlotte hates Cleo, Emma, and Rikki," Lewis explained, "She became a mermaid at one point but they succeeded in taking away her powers after she tried to take away theirs on the planetary alignment, which is a night once every fifty years when mermaids can lose their powers. There is no way she would really want to help the girls."

"We were just trying to help, we had no idea," Taranee said, "Do you think this can be undone?"

"There is still the full moon," Ash said hopefully, "It might be able to return them to normal."

"When is the full moon?" Zane asked.

"Three nights from now," Lewis replied automatically, he always kept track of the moon's cycle.

"What should we do with them till then?" Cornelia asked.

"Well they can't really stay here, I don't know what my mom would do when she saw them," Lewis replied.

"They could stay with us in the hotel!" Hay Lin offered.

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Will said, and all the others agreed.

"Well then it's settled, they will stay with you guys as we await the full-moon that will hopefully change them back to their own age," Lewis stated.

"I think we have one more thing to do," Zane said, "Lewis and Ash, I believe you should inform Cleo and Emma's families that they will not be coming home so they don't get too worried. You could probably just tell them that they are staying at the hotel with Matt's friends. That is what I told Rikki's dad and he seemed to accept it. Also, Lewis, you should confront Charlotte in case she is planning on doing anything else to the girls."

"Good idea Zane," Lewis said, and about half an hour later both Ash and Lewis left, and I was seated by Zane next to the other two in front of the TV.

Lewis' P.O.V.

After informing the Sertori's of why Cleo has been gone so long and that she will be gone a few more nights, I finally headed over to Charlotte's.

"Hello Lewis," Charlotte said as she opened the door and then led me to the living room.

"I know what you did Charlotte," I stated bluntly, "And I want to know why."

"Oh Lewis, I was just having a bit of fun," Charlotte said laughing, "It was just an old spell I found in one of my grandmother's old books. When those girls came to me for help for Cleo, Rikki, and Emma, I simply couldn't resist. It is quite hilarious, them being stuck in children's bodies, don't you think so?"

"No, I don't think it is hilarious," I replied annoyed.

"Then why did you come over here," Charlotte asked.

"I was actually wanted to clarify a few things with you Charlotte," I stated, "We are not boyfriend and girlfriend anymore, but that does not give you a right to be mean to my friends. If you want, we can still be friends, but that is only if you can treat my present girlfriend and friends with the respect they deserve. We had a good friendship that I would hate to see go away, but there is no way I could ever continue being your friend if you go after others close to me, understand?"

"Yes," she said sadly looking the ground.

"Good," I said, and waited a moment before adding, "now, the potion . . . is there a cure?"

"No," Charlotte replied, "it wears off under the full moon." Thank goodness!

"Thanks Charlotte," I said though I didn't know what I was thanking her for, "maybe we could really hang out some time."

"Sure," she said though there was doubt in her voice as we both knew that, though I didn't see her as completely and utterly evil, the others wouldn't approve at all, "See you around Lewis."

"See you," I said taking my leave confidently. At least that mission was a success. Now all we have to do is wait.

**A/N Thank you all for reading my chapter! :) I truly hope you enjoyed, and that you review! :D**


	17. Back to Normal?

**A/N I am soo sorry this chapter is so late. I have been just busy working on my other stories. I've had a sort of writer's block on this one and have sort of lost interest in it. Therefore I am really sorry if this seems to be taking things too fast.**

Chapter 17: Back to … Normal?

Third Person Point of View

Charlotte sat in front of her computer, trying to focus on her homework for summer school. She had ended up there because her grades dropped dramatically when she fell into a sort of depression after losing her powers. For months after she hadn't talked to Lewis or the girls and they hadn't talked to her, and her friends from her old school were too busy with schoolwork to ever come visit. She had been completely alone, and she blamed the girls for that. That's when she started the website based off things she found in her grandma's diary she found in the attic, it was basically a mermaid information guide; hoping for human interaction. However, the people that did comment on her site either seemed almost crazy, and but most of the others just commented that this was totally fake, while it was probably the only mermaid info site that wasn't.

When those girls who had seen her website came to her door, holding Emma, Rikki, and Cleo as tiny babies, an effect of the eclipse, she spotted the perfect chance to get revenge. Because of those random girls, she was able to get her pay back, plus interest. Now they would lose their mermaid powers and have to relive practically their whole lives; she would never have to deal with them again.

It was the perfect plan. She got those American girls, whom she had already forgotten the names of, to help her with all the hard work, and she even lead them to believe the spell was only temporary. Now they will wait until the full moon, thinking that will change them back, but really the moon will complete the spell, making it permanent. Their 'perfect,' fairytale lives will be ruined once and for all. Charlotte practically laughed out loud at the thought.

Cleo's POV

I think Lewis said something about all this craziness ending on the full moon, but I can't be sure. I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing. I thought he was smiling when he said it, but I don't know. I feel like I can't hang on that long. Lately it has been getting harder for me to keep conscious inside this body; I have trouble understanding my surroundings most times now. I feel like me, the real me, is disappearing. I can feel my power fading

Being stuck in your own body as a toddler and not being able to do anything but watch as things just happened was not ideal. It was weird, but I had gotten used to it for the time being and had hope Lewis would be able to find some way to save us. But very soon I started to have blurry vision at random times. That wasn't much but then my power started spazzing out, not enough that anyone noticed, it was just water, but still. Then there came periods of time where I would come to and have no idea what happened for the past hour or so. Now I saw only flashes of the outer world and I could feel my power weakening. I knew it did nothing to my child body, it was probably not even visible at all the turmoil I was going through; I could feel the energy of the child growing as it was unknowingly taking complete control over the body we currently shared. Suddenly everything went black, and I knew this time I wasn't coming back…

Will's P.O.V.

It all started as a sort of chain reaction. Each of the girls had been just sitting quietly in front of the TV, some cartoon was on that I have never heard of, when it happened. Seemingly out of nowhere Cleo had broken out in tears and before long the other two followed. It was so sudden it took me and the other girls a few seconds to react. But before long Rikki, Cleo, and Emma were in the arms of Taranee, Irma, and Hay Lin respectively, chosen as their powers were similar to the child's so they could handle it if things got out of hand.

It took about fifteen minutes to calm them down, but the source was still unknown.

"What could have caused that?" I wondered aloud, but I only got a bunch of shrugs in return.

"I suppose it doesn't matter though, they are fine now," Irma said. For now the girls were happily running and jumping around the room, not breaking anything, yet.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said sitting down in the chair by the window. Then I noticed something weird. "Hey guys! Look."

The girls were playing as usual, but something was off. For one, Emma was holding the TV remote away from Cleo and had her hand in a stop position, but nothing was freezing. Another thing was that Rikki was currently playing with the water in the sink, and not turning into a mermaid. Something was definitely wrong.

"What do you think happened?" Hay Lin asked, the question was directed at all of us but no one had a clue.

"What if the spell is getting worse?" Taranee asked.

"Didn't Lewis tell us Charlotte said it would wear off at the full moon?" Cornelia stated.

"But she could have lied," Irma mused, "she was an enemy of theirs, what if it is meant to be permanent or something?"

"There must be some way to help them then, the spell has only been in place for like a day," I said smirking, holding the heart of Candracar in my hand, "but we need help to learn how to undo it."

"Who else can we go to that would know the magical solution?" Irma asked sarcastically, we all knew the answer.

"The Oracle!" Hay Lin almost shouted, she loved going to see the oracle, mostly because she was also her grandmother.

"Yup," I said tossing the heart into the air then sort of whisper shouting, (don't want to alert Chris and Lillian in the other room) "Guardians unite!"

After creating a portal, we made our way to Candracar, taking the girls by their hands.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO

"Hello girls, what a pleasant surprise!" Yan Lin said coming up to us and giving us each a welcoming hug, except the children who had to be firmly held in place as they grew anxious to run around the new world. Irma and Taranee restrained Rikki and Emma by holding onto their hands; their powers were not longer an issue. Cleo wasn't as anxious as the other too, I simply picked her up and she was amazed at my wings and began contentedly stroking them.

"You're the Oracle, I thought you couldn't be surprised," Irma said smugly.

"I can't, I just thought it would be nice to say," Yan Lin said with a smile, "but why don't you explain this whole situation to me?"

"Well, we trusted this one girl and helped make a potion with her to cure the girls, bring them back to their normal age. However, it turns out that she was an enemy of theirs, so they became stuck at about two years old, acting nothing like themselves," I explained, "She told our friend that it would wear off at the full moon, but it seems to be getting worse. We hoped you could help."

"Can I see one of the children?" Yan Lin asked, and I set Cleo down and led her to the Oracle. She rested her hands on Cleo's head and closed her eyes in concentration. I'm not sure what she was doing, but I know it was something magical.

"Yes, this child is practically the same as all other two-year olds, and that is not good for someone who used to be a teenage mermaid," Yan Lin said with a concerned look on her face, "do you know what was in the potion."

"I'm not sure, but I could write down the ingredients I remember," Taranee spoke up and with a snap of the Oracle's fingers a pen and piece of paper appeared in front of her. She wrote very fast, and handed it back to Yan Lin in about five minutes. Yan Lin read it over carefully while we all anxiously waited in silence.

"Yes this does not look good," she eventually said.

"What does it mean? Are they stuck like that? Do they have to re-grow?" Irma asked. By now the children had calmed down a bit, and they were still keeping their mouths shut. I felt very worried and sympathetic towards them, but I knew they probably didn't even understand what was happening.

"Not necessarily, there is still time," the Oracle said bending down to see Cleo face to face, and putting her hand on Cleo, caressing her cheek, "According to what I know, the spell will be made permanent on the full moon."

"So how do we reverse it?"I asked.

"It is meant to be irreversible, so it isn't going to be easy," Oracle said getting up and looking at all of us, "there is a very powerful protective seal on this potion, and the easiest way to break it is combining all your powers together along with a little of my own Candracar magic. It will take a lot of energy, but it has the greatest chance of working at this point. There is a special room in Candracar where we can perform it, the sooner the better."

"I for one don't want to take any chances," I told them, "Why don't we just do it now? We know for a fact we can trust the Oracle."

"Yeah why not," Irma said and the other W.I.T.C.H. girls nodded their agreements. Maybe it would be right to tell Lewis and the other boys what we were going to do, but if Yan Lin was right we need to act ASAP for our own spell to have an effect.

"Okay girls, follow me," The Oracle said walking away towards a room that I don't think was here before, but that's Candracar for you.

The room was basically a big white room without a ceiling. The only thing in it was three chairs back to back to back in the center of the room. There were also circles on the floor forming a circle, each with an elemental symbol, plus one that was just colored a light blue.

"Take a seat children," Yan Lin said sweetly staring at each of the little girls who in turn scurried over the chairs and took their seats, surprisingly quiet and behaved. We in turn took out own places around the room.

"Okay now what," Irma said impatiently.

"Patience child," Yan Lin said with a smile, "Now you all combine your powers to make a column of power around the children. It will act as a sort of vacuum and hopefully take off the spell. I don't doubt it much though, the great power of Candracar, the center of power, is more than a match to some amateur's mermaid spell."

"On three," I shouted to the others, "One … two … three!" We all turned our powers on full blast creating a sort of tornado around the girls. From each of us guardians came a visible blast of power, but the Oracle only had her hands out in front of her and her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. I could, however, see through the small cracks in the tornado a wisp of silver magic showering the girls, but I couldn't make them quite out. I hoped that they would be growing, but it was very hard to tell. We went that way for five, maybe ten, minutes, it was exhausting. We didn't stop until Yan Lin opened her eyes and told us to. Heavy panting was heard all around the room; Irma was even lying on the cold hard ground. We all eventually conceded to sitting on the ground, the only person not exhausted was Yan Lin, the Oracle.

"Well that was fun, right girls?" she said sarcastically, getting a lot of grunts in response which just made her laugh.

It took about ten minutes for the giant hurricane to pretty much disintegrate, but when it did it wasn't what I, or I think anyone else, expected. The chairs had somehow turned into car seats and there sat three babies!

"They're babies again!" Hay Lin exclaimed, expressing all of our surprise and frustration. The whole point was to fix the situation not go back to where the problem started, but I guess it was better than nothing.

"Yes," Yan Lin unnecessarily confirmed, "Irma, spray some water on one of them to make sure they are mermaids as well."

"You're the Oracle," Irma said lifting her head slightly to look and then waving her hand and about a cup of water formed in the air and fell on the baby I believe was Emma. Then Rikki raised her fist to the sky and we could see the lightning, she clapped in happiness. They were definitely back.

"Why didn't they turn back to normal?" Taranee asked.

"Yeah, did we just do all the work for nothing?!" Cornelia exclaimed tiredly.

"No and yes," Yan Lin replied, "You did what you could, and saved them from having to grow up all over again."

"But they are babies? Won't they still have to redo life?" I asked her.

"Not necessarily. The moon is a powerful and ancient force of magic not to be messed with. Only it can undo what it has done. It is very ancient, mysterious, and quite comical, but never cruel," the Oracle said in a wise, knowing way, "Since this was caused by the moon I suspect they will return to normal on the next full moon."

"Well that's good," I said, "thanks for all your help Oracle."

"Anytime Guardians," she replied with a wink, "Anytime."

Cleo's P.O.V.

I have no idea what happened, but suddenly I felt myself again. I went from nothing to full control of my body, which was a plus. The only problem was that I was a baby, but from where I coming from that is great improvement. I also could feel the presence of my powers and my control over it, it felt awesome!

My surroundings were a little weird though. I was strapped, in a car seat I believe, in a very white room with no ceiling. Standing around were Lewis' cousin's friends in their fairy-like costumes that made them look older than they were, and the older lady who I believe was the Oracle. Also, though I couldn't see them, I believe I heard the others to either side of me. I think we are in Candracar again.

*We're back!* I said to the Rikki and Emma.

*Yup, it feels great* Rikki replied.

*We are babies again,* Emma said sadly, *What if we never return to normal?*

**A/N Please Review! Tell me what you think and show me that there are people reading this story. Sorry to say, the next chapter will be the last. I will try to have it up by Christmas.**


	18. The End

**A/N Sorry this chapter was late, but it is definitely the last chapter. This story may have taken forever for me to write, but at least I didn't leave you guys hanging. Hope you like it! :)**

Chapter 18: The End

Lewis' P.O.V.

The next few days went by faster than I could have imagined. We were able to keep up the act better than I would have ever thought we could. No one suspected a thing. Well, they probably did, but there is no way they would have came to the true conclusion. Who in their right mind would think on their own that a few teenage girls just turned into babies? Anyway, tonight was the night that would hopefully bring them back to normal, the night of the full moon. We were all more than ready for this day to come. It has been a long two weeks.

For the most part the babies stayed with Matt's friends at the hotel, they didn't seem to mind. I had told my mom that we turned the babies into the police; they were going to take care of the situation. They were the professionals after all. I'm just glad she never really questioned me about it; she trusts me enough. There was some trouble when Matt's mom tried to visit the girls in the hotel, but they managed to keep her in the younger kids' room while we snuck the babies out. It was tough, but we really pulled through.

At about 7:30 the moon is meant to rise, so we are all going to leave at 7:00. I figured it would be best to take them to the moon pool. I believe it is the surest way to harness the moon's magic. I still can't believe that Charlotte lied to me. I sincerely believed she liked me enough to respect me and my friends, guess I was wrong. There is no way we are ever going to be able to be 'just friends' now. I don' think I will ever be able to forgive her.

"Lewis, are you ready to go?" Zane calls from my open front door. I usually leave the door open while I'm home and when I know friends are coming over, it is just easier. Anyway, I was just doing some last minute research to make sure there were no strange planetary things going on tonight while the other got the girls ready to go. The last thing we needed was for some even more magical weird things happening to mess everything up.

"Coming!" I shouted back, finding nothing and shutting my laptop. I went out the door with him and Ash, and we headed to the marina where the boats were kept. Matt and his friends were already waiting with the babies, who were soundly sleeping at the moment. We split up between Zane's zodiac and my fishing boat quick and easy, with no complaints or complications. Everybody was pretty much just focused on the task at hand, they didn't care if they got to sit next to their favorite people on the ride there.

It was a seemingly long and very quiet ride. I had never really noticed how far Mako was before. It is not too far, but it is a good half hour boat trip from the mainland. The silence and anxiety made it seem even longer. I guess nobody could really think of what to say, so we all just kept to ourselves. It was kind of soothing to just listen to the sound of the ocean waves, it reminded me of fishing, that always calms me down.

When we did get there, there were still had to hike the long trek to the moon pool. The girls talked about stuff I didn't understand with Matt and Zane and Ash were awkwardly talking about something else I really didn't know much about. I stayed pretty quiet, I didn't really care. I led the group through the well remembered path and before long we were at the entrance, and the sky was getting darker by the minute.

By the time we got there the babies were awake and one by one we set them into the moon pool. They turned into mermaids and contentedly and simply swam around a bit. The rest of us just sat back and waited.

General P.O.V.

Not long after the gang all got settled in the moon pool cave on Mako, the moon made its appearance. As it aligned with the opening of the volcano a cone of bright light encased the pool, blocking the mermaids from the rest. The bright light caused everyone on the outside to blackout, but the girls inside just looked up anxiously waiting to return to their normal age.

To Emma, Cleo, and Rikki the rest seemed like any other full moon in the moon pool. It reminded them of the first time they were there. Then they hadn't expected any sort of magical change. Now they could feel it happening. They couldn't keep from looking up towards the moon, but they could feel themselves growing older, and it felt good. Then an even brighter light flashed before their eyes and they too passed out.

* * *

Emma's P.O.V.

The next day I woke up in the moon pool on Mako Island, the morning light shining through the hole at the top of the volcano. I had no memory of the night before. I personally woke up with my head lying on the sand, the rest of my body in the water. I slowly lifted my tail out of the water; grateful to see that is was full length again! I don't think I was ever happier to be my own age before! I almost laughed out loud, but caught myself, when I looked around it seemed everyone else was still sleeping. Cleo and Rikki are right next to me, in the water, completely back to normal! Well, at least what has become normal for us. The others, including Ash, Zane, Lewis, his cousin Matt and his friends, were sprawled out around the cave, it didn't look like there was much room.

Luckily Ash was the closest, his face was not even a meter from mine. He looked so cute when he was sleeping; even cuter when he was awake. I slowly pulled myself out of the water and moved towards him. When I got close enough to his face, I gave him a small kiss on the lips. He slowly opened his eyes, "Emma?"

"Morning sleepy head," I replied smiling.

"Is it really you? Are you back to normal?" He asked sleepily.

"Yes, it's really me," I said giggling and staring straight into his deep dark eyes.

"That's great," He said smiling, still not fully awake, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I replied and we shared another kiss, this one more deep and passionate, I never wanted it to end. But after a few straight minutes we were splashed with water and separated, I turned to see the source. Of course, it was Rikki.

"Get a room you two," She said yawning, "Feels good to be back." I just gave her a glare. It wasn't long before everyone else woke up.

"What happened last night?" Hay Lin asked rubbing her eyes.

"We must've blacked out," Irma said stretching.

"At least it worked," Will said smiling towards us.

"Yeah, thanks," Cleo replied sheepishly.

"We should probably take this back to the mainland, our parents will be wondering where we are," Matt said referring mostly to his mother and Lewis' parents, since the rest of us were covered with our parents. Then one by one they left the cave and once they were all gone Cleo, Rikki, and I made our way through the underwater opening. We all headed towards the mainland to continue life as it should be, and act basically as if nothing had happened.

* * *

We got to talking more with the W.I.T.C.H. girls, knowing each other's secrets made things a lot easier and less awkward. For the rest of their days here we spent time visiting other worlds, with the oracle's permission, and exploring the depths of the sea with them. Hay Lin was able to use her powers to give them air when needed and Irma helped them maneuver through the water without floating back up. It was great! It was nice to know we weren't the only unusual girls in the world.

However, all this fun couldn't last forever. Before we knew it, the time came for the other girls to leave back to America. This time all three of us went with Lewis and his mother to see off his cousin and friends at the airport.

"We're going to miss you," Will said as we all took turns hugging each other.

"We will definitely come down next year," Hay Lin said excitedly.

"We may even get to see each other sooner," I said winking and we all laughed. America was one very long swim from Australia, but I'm sure a few mermaids could do it within a few days.

Then they all boarded the plane, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, William, Christopher, Lillian, Matt, and his mom. Leaving on their way back to their homes and parents; ending one of the craziest months of my life.

**A/N I know this is later than I had said, but I just had some writer's block, I really wanted to give this story a good ending. Hope you enjoyed it! :) And you guys should _DEFINITELY_ check out my other stories if you haven't already! Thank you to all of my faithful readers! I love you guys! ;)**


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